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DR. FIELD'S BOOKS OF TRAVEL. 



FROM THE LAKES OF KILLARNEY TO THE GOLDEN 
HORN. Crown 8vo, $2.00. 

FROM EGYPT TO JAPAN. Crown 8vo, $2.00. 

ON THE DESERT. Crown 8vo, $2.00. 

AMONG THE HOLY HILLS. With a map. Crown 8vo, $1.50. 

THE GREEK ISLANDS, and Turkey after the War. With 
illustrations and maps. Crown 8vo, $1.50. 

OLD SPAIN AND NEW SPAIN. With map. Crown 8vo, $1.50. 

BRIGHT SKIES AND DARK SHADOWS. With maps. 
Crown 8vo, $1.50 

The set, 7 vols., in a box, $12.00. 

GIBRALTAR. Illustrated. 4to, $2.00. 



THE STORY 



OF THE 



ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH 



HENRY M. FIELD 



." Since the discovery of Columbus, nothing- has been done in 
any degree comparable to the vast enlargement which has thus 
been given to the sphere of human activity." 

—The Times, August 6th, 1858. 



*P? 



NEW YORK 
CHAELES SCBIBKER'S SONS 



LIBRARY 

J UN 30 1893 

on ru 






Copyright, 1892, by 
HENRY M. FIELD, 



ly Trustor 
JUN • >» 




r/n 



y 



1 



Press of J. J. Little & Co. 
Aetor Place, New York 



PREFACE 

The recent death of Mr. Cyrus "W. Field recalls 
attention to the great enterprise with which his name 
will be forever associated. " The Atlantic Telegraph," 
said the late Chief Justice Chase, " is the most wonder- 
ful achievement of civilization, and entitles its author 
to a distinguished rank among public benefactors. 
High upon that illustrious roll will his name be placed, 
and there will it remain while oceans divide, and tele- 
graphs unite, mankind." The memory of such an 
achievement the world should not let die. The story 
of its varied fortunes reads like a tale of adventure. 
From the beginning it was a series of battles, fighting 
against the elements and against the unbelief of men.\ 
This long struggle the new generation may forget, 
profiting by the result, but thinking little of the 
means by which it was attained. What toil of hand 
and brain had gone before ; what days and nights of 
watching and weariness ; how often hope deferred had 
made the heart sick : how year after year had dragged 
on, and seen the end still afar off — all that is dimly 
remembered, even by those who reap the fruits of 
victory. And yet in the history of human achieve- 



i v PREFACE. 

ments, it, is necessary to trace these beginnings step by 
step, if we would learn the lesson they teach, that it is 
only out of heroic patience and perseverance that any- 
thing truly great is born. 

Twelve years of unceasing toil was the price the 
Atlantic Telegraph cost its projector; and not years 
lighted up by the assurance of success, but that were 
often darkened with despair : years in which he was 
restlessly crossing and recrossing the ocean, only to 
find on either side, worse than storms and tempests, 
an incredulity which sneered at every failure, and 
derided the attempt as a delusion and a dream. 
Against such discouragements nothing could prevail 
but that faith, or fanaticism, which, believing the 
incredible, achieves the impossible. Such a tale, apart 
from the results, is in itself a lesson and an inspiration. 

In attempting to chronicle all this, the relation of 
the writer to the prime mover has given him facilities 
for obtaining the materials of an authentic history; 
but he trusts that it will not lead him to overstep the 
limits of modesty. Standing by a new-made grave, he 
has no wish to indulge in undue praise even of the 
beloved dead. Enough for him is it to unroll the can- 
vas on which the chief actor stands forth as the con- 
spicuous figure. But in a work of such magnitude 
there are many actors, and there is glory enough for 
all ; and it is a sacred duty to the dead to recognize, 
as he did, what was due to the brave companions in 



PREFACE. v 

arms, who stood by him in disaster and defeat ; who 
believed in him even when his own countrymen 
doubted and despaired ; and furnished anew men and 
money and ships for the final conquest of the sea. If 
history records that the enterprise of the Atlantic Tel- 
egraph owed its inception to the faith and daring of 
an American, it will also record that all his ardor and 
activity would have been of no avail but for the sci- 
ence and seamanship, the capital and the undaunted 
courage, of England. But when all these conditions, 
were supplied, it is the testimony of Englishmen them- 
selves that his was the spirit within the wheels that 
made them revolve ; that it was his intense vitality 
that infused itself into a great organization, and made 
the dream of science the reality of the world. This 
is not to his honor alone : it is a matter of national 
pride ; and Americans may be pardoned if, in the year 
in which they celebrate the discovery of the continent, 
they recall that it was one of their countrymen whom 
the Great Commoner of England, John Bright, pro- 
nounced "the Columbus of our time, who, after no 
less than forty voyages across the Atlantic in pursuit 
of the great aim of his life, had at length by his cable 
moored the New World close alongside the Old." 
How the miracle was wrought, it is the design of these 
pages to tell. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I. 

Discovery of the New World by Columbus. Relative Position 
of the Two Hemispheres. Nearest Points — The Outlying Is- 
lands, Ireland and Newfoundland. Shorter Route to Europe 
suggested by blshop mullock, the electric telegraph com- 
PANY of Newfoundland. Project of Mr. F. N. Gisborne. 
Failure of the Company Page 1 

CHAPTER II. 
Mr. Gisborne comes to New York. Is introduced to Cyrus W. 
Field, who conceives the Idea of a Telegraph across the At- 
lantic Ocean. Is it Practicable ? Two Elements to be mastered, 
the Sea and the Electric Current. Letters of Lieutenant 
Maury and Professor Morse Page 15 

CHAPTER III. 
Mr. Field enlists Capitalists in the Enterprise. Commission to 
Newfoundland to obtain a Charter. The New York, New- 
foundland, and London Telegraph Company .... Page 24 

CHAPTER IV. 

The Land-Line in Newfoundland. Four Hundred Miles of Road 

to be built, a work of two years. attempt to lay a cable 

across the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in 1855, fails. A Second 

Attempt, in 1856, is successful Page 38 

CHAPTER Y. 

Deep-Sea Soundings by Lieutenant Berryman in the Dolphin in 
1853, and the Arctic in 1856, and by Commander Dayman, of 
the British Navy, in the Cyclops, in 1857. The Bed of the 
Atlantic. The Telegraphic Plateau Page 51 



viii CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VI. 

Mr. Field in London. The English Engineers and Electricians. 
Result of Experiments. The Atlantic Telegraph Company 
organized. applies to the government for ald. contract 
for a Cable 



CHAPTER VII. 
Mr. Field returns to America. Seeks Aid from the Government. 
Opposition in Congress. Bill passed Page 91 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Return to England. The Niagara — Captain Hudson. The Aga- 
memnon. Expedition of 1857 sails from Ireland. Speech of 
the Earl of Carlisle. The Cable broken Page 112 

CHAPTER IX. 

Preparations for an Expedition in 1858. Mr. Field is made the 
General Manager of the Company. The Squadron assemble at 
Plymouth, and put to Sea, June 10. New Method of laying 
Cable, beginning in Mid-Ocean. The Agamemnon in Danger of 
being Foundered. The Cable lost Three Times. The Ships 
return to england. meeting of the directors. shall they 
abandon the Project ? One Last Effort Page 142 

CHAPTER X. 

Second Expedition Successful. Cable landed in Ireland and 
Newfoundland Page 165 

CHAPTER XI. 

Great Excitement in America. Celebration in New York and 
other Cities Page 188 

CHAPTER XII. 

Sudden Stoppage of the Cable. Reaction of Public Feeling. 
Suspicions of Bad Faith. Did the Cable ever work ? Page 213 



CONTENTS. ix 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Attempts to revive the Company. The Government asked for 
Aid, but declines to give an Unconditional Guarantee. Fail- 
ure of the Red Sea Telegraph. Scientific Experiments. Cables 
laid in the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf. Brief His- 
tory of the next Five Years . . . . • Page 229 

CHAPTER XIV. 

The Enterprise renewed. Improvement on the Old Cable. The 
Great Eastern and Captain Anderson. Expedition of 1865. 
Twelve Hundred Miles laid safely, when the Cable is 
broken Page 241 

CHAPTER XV. 

Formation of a New Company, the Anglo-American. New Cable 
made and shipped on board the great eastern . . page 293 

CHAPTER XVI. 

The Expedition of 1866. Immense Preparations. Religious Ser- 
vice at Valentia. Sailing of the Fleet. Diary of the Voyage. 
Cable landed at Heart's Content Page 306 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Return to Mid-Ocean to search for the Cable lost the Tear 
before. Dragging in the Deep Sea. Repeated Failures. Cable 
finally recovered and completed to Newfoundland . Page 347 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

The Afterglow. Honors conferred in England and America. 
Commercial Revolution wrought by the Cable. Mr. Field 
and the Elevated Railroads in New York City. Tour round 
the World. Last Years. Death in 1892 Page 376 



STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH 



CHAPTEK I. 

THE BARRIER OF THE SEA. 

When Columbus sailed from the shores of Spain, it 
was not in search of a New World, but only to find a 
nearer path to the East. He sought a western passage 
to India. He had adopted a traditionary belief that 
the earth was round ; but he did not once dream of 
another continent than the three which had been the 
ancient abodes of the human race — Europe, Asia, and 
Africa. All the rest was the great deep. The Floren- 
tine sage Toscanelli, from his knowledge of the world 
so far as then discovered, had made a chart, on which 
the eastern coast of Asia was represented as lying 
opposite to the western coast of both Europe and Afri- 
ca. Accepting this theory, Columbus reasoned that he 
could sail direct from Spain to India. ^So intervening 
continent existed even in his imagination. Even after 
he had crossed the Atlantic, and descried the green 
woods of San Salvador rising out of the western seas, 
he thought he saw before him one of the islands of the 
Asiatic coast. Cuba he believed was a part of the 



2 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

mainland of India ; Hayti was the Ophir of King Solo- 
mon ; and when, on a later voyage, he came to the 
broad mouth of the Orinoco, and saw it pouring its 
mighty flood into the Atlantic, he rejoiced that he had 
found the great river Gihon, which had its rise in the 
garden of Eden ! Even to the hour of his death, he 
remained ignorant of the real extent of his magnificent 
discovery. It was reserved to later times to lift the 
curtain fully from the world of waters ; to reveal the true 
magnitude of the globe ; and to unite the distant hemi- 
spheres by ties such as the great discoverer never knew. 
It is hard to imagine the darkness and the terror 
which then hung over the face of the deep. The ocean 
to the west was a Mare Tenebrosum — a Sea of Dark- 
ness, into which only the boldest voyagers dared to 
venture. Columbus was the most successful navigator 
of his time. He had made voyages to the Western 
Islands, to Madeira and the Canaries, to Iceland on 
the north, and to the Portuguese settlements in Africa. 
But w^hen he came to cross the sea, he had to grope 
his way almost blindly. But a few rays of knowledge 
glimmered, like stars, on the pathless waters. When 
he sailed on his voyage of discovery, he directed his 
course, first to the Canaries, which was a sort of out- 
station for the navigators of those times, as the last 
place at which they could take in supplies ; and beyond 
which they were venturing into unknown seas. Here 
he turned to the west, though inclining southward 



THE BARRIER OF THE SEA. 3 

toward the tropics (for even the great discoverers of 
that day, in their search for new realms to conquer, 
were not above the consideration of riches as well as 
honor, and somehow associated gems and gold with 
torrid climes), and bore away for India ! 

From this route taken by the great navigator, he 
crossed the ocean in its widest part. Had he, instead, 
followed the track of the Northmen, who crept around 
from Iceland to Greenland and Labrador ; or had he 
sailed straight to the Azores, and then borne away to 
the north-west, he would much sooner have descried 
land from the mast-head. But steering in darkness, he 
crossed the Atlantic where it is broadest and deepest ; 
where, as submarine explorers have since shown, it 
rolls over mountains, lofty as the Alps and the Him- 
alayas, which lie buried beneath the surface of the 
deep. But farther north the two continents, so widely 
sundered, incline toward each other, as if inviting that 
closer relation and freer intercourse which the fulness 
of time was to bring. 

As the island of Newfoundland is to stand in the 
foreground of our story, we observe on the map its 
salient geographical position. It holds the same rela- 
tion to America that Ireland does to Europe. Stretch- 
ing far out into the Atlantic, it is the vanguard of the 
western continent, or rather the signal-tow r er from 
which the New World may speak to the Old. 

And yet, though large as England, and so near our 



4 STOEY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

coast, few Americans ever see it, as it lies out of the 
track of' European commerce. Our ships, though they 
skirt the Banks of Newfoundland, pass to the south, 
and get but occasional glimpses of the headlands. 
Even what is seen gives the country rather an ill repu- 
tation. It has a rockbound coast, around which hang 
perpetual fogs and mists, through which great icebergs 
drift slowly down, like huge phantoms of the deep, 
gliding away to be dissolved by the warm breath of 
the Gulf Stream : dangers that warn the voyager away 
from such a sea and shore. 

Sailing west from Cape Eace, and making the cir- 
cuit of the island as far as the Straits of Belle Isle, 
one is often reminded of the most northern peninsula 
of Europe. The rocky shores are indented with 
numerous bays, reaching far up into the land, like the 
fiords along the coast of Norway ; while the large 
herds of Caribou deer, that are seen feeding on the 
hills, might easily be mistaken for the flocks of rein- 
deer that browse on the pastures and drink of the 
mountain torrents of ancient Scandinavia. 

The interior of the island is little known. Not only 
is it uninhabited, it is almost unexplored, a boundless 
waste of rock and moor, where vast forests stretch 
out their unbroken solitudes, and the wild bird utters 
its lonely cry. Bears and wolves roam on the moun- 
tains. Especially common is the large and fierce black 
wolf; while of the smaller animals, whose skins furnish 



THE BARRIER OF THE SEA. 5 

material for the fur-trade, such as martins and foxes, 
there is the greatest abundance. But from all pests 
of the serpent tribe, Newfoundland is as free as Ireland, 
which was delivered by the prayers of St. Patrick. 
There is not a snake or a frog or a toad in the island ! 

Yet, even in this rugged ness of nature, there is a 
wild beauty, which only needs to be " clothed upon " 
by the hand of man. Newfoundland, in many of its 
features, is not unlike Scotland, even in its most deso- 
late portions, where the rocky surface of the country, 
covered with thick moss, reminds the emigrant Scot 
of the heather on his native moors. In the interior 
are lakes as long as Loch Lomond, and mountains as 
lofty as Ben Lomond and Ben Nevis. There are 
passes as wild as the Vale of Glencoe, where one 
might feel that he is in the heart of the Highlands, 
while the roar of the torrents yet more vividly recalls 
the 

Land of the brown heath and shaggy wood, 
Land of the mountain and the flood. 

Yet in all this there is nothing to repel human habita- 
tion. By the hand of industry, these wild moors might 
be transformed into fruitful fields. We think it a very 
cold country, where winter reigns over half the year, 
as in Greenland ; yet it is not so far north as Scotland, 
nor is its climate more inhospitable. It only needs the 
same population, the same hardy toil ; and the same 



6 STORY OF. THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

verdure would creep up its hill-sides, which now makes 
green and beautiful the loneliest of Scottish glens. 

But at present the country is a terra incognita. In 
the interior there are no towns and no roads. As yet 
almost the whole wealth of the island is drawn from 
the sea. Its chief trade is its fisheries, and the only 
places of importance are a few small towns, chiefly on 
the eastern side, which have grown up around the 
trading posts. Besides these, the only settlements are 
the fishermen's huts scattered along the coast. Hence 
the bishop of the island, when he would make his 
annual visit to his scattered flock, is obliged to sail 
around his diocese in his yacht, since even on horse- 
back it would not be possible to make his way 
through the dense forests to the remote parts of the 
island. This first suggested the idea of cutting across 
the island a nearer way, not only for internal inter- 
course, but for those who were passing to and fro on 
the sea. 

It was in one of these excursions around the coast 
that the good Bishop Mullock, the head of the Roman 
Catholic Church in Newfoundland, when visiting the 
western portion of his diocese, lying one day becalmed 
in his yacht, in sight of Cape North, the extreme point 
of the province of Cape Breton, bethought himself how 
his poor neglected island might be benefited by being 
taken into the track of communication between Europe 
and America. He saw how nature had provided an 



THE BARRIER OF THE SEA. 7 

easy approach to the mainland on the west. About 
sixty miles from Cape Ray stretched the long island of 
Cape Breton, while, as a stepping-stone, the little island 
of St. Paul's lay between. So much did it weigh upon 
his mind that, as soon as he got back to St. John's, he 
wrote a letter to one of the papers on the subject. As 
this was the first suggestion of a telegraph across New- 
foundland, his letter is here given in full : 

To the Editor of the Courier : 

Sir : I regret to find that, in every plan for transatlantic 
communication, Halifax is always mentioned, and the 
natural capabilities of Newfoundland entirely overlooked. 
This has been deeply impressed on my mind by the commu- 
nication I read in your paper of Saturday last, regarding 
telegraphic communication between England and Ireland, 
in which it is said that the nearest telegraphic station on the 
American side is Halifax, twenty-one hundred and fifty-five 
miles from the west of Ireland. Now would it not be w T ell 
to call the attention of England and America to the extraor- 
dinary capabilities of St. John's, as the nearest telegraphic 
point ? It is an Atlantic port, lying, I may say, in the track 
of the ocean steamers, and by establishing it as the American 
telegraphic station, news could be communicated to the whole 
American continent forty-eight hours, at least, sooner than 
by any other route. But how will this be accomplished ? 
Just look at the map of Newfoundland and Cape Breton. 
From St. John's to Cape Ray there is no difficulty in estab- 
lishing a line passing near Holy-Rood along the neck of 
land connecting Trinity and Placentia Bays, and thence in a 
direction due west to the Cape. You have then about forty- 



8 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

one to forty-five miles of sea to St. Paul's Island, with deep 
soundings of one hundred fathoms, so that the electric cable 
will be perfectly safe from icebergs. Thence to Cape North, 
in Cape Breton, is little more than twelve miles. Thus it is 
not only practicable to bring America two days nearer to 
Europe by this route, but should the telegraphic communi- 
cation between England and Ireland, sixty-two miles, be 
realized, it presents not the least difficulty. Of course, we 
in Newfoundland will have nothing to do with the erection, 
working, and maintenance of the telegraph ; but I suppose 
our Government will give every facility to the company, 
either English or American, who will undertake it, as it will 
be an incalculable advantage to this country. I hope the 
day is not far distant when St. John's will be the first link 
in the electric chain which will unite the Old World and 
the New. J. T. M. 

St. John's, November 8, 1850. 

This suggestion came at the right moment, since it 
quickened, if it did not originate, the first attempt to 
link the island of Newfoundland with the mainland of 
America. For about the same time, the attention of 
Mr. Frederick N. Gisborne, a telegraph operator, was 
attracted to a similar project. Being a man of great 
quickness of mind, he instantly saw the importance of 
such a work, and took hold of it with enthusiasm. It 
might easily occur to him without suggestion from any 
source. He had had much experience in telegraphs, 
and was then engaged in constructing a telegraph line 
in Nova Scotia. "Whether, therefore, the idea was first 



THE BARRIER OF THE SEA. 9 

with hini or with the bishop, is of little consequence. 
It might occur at the same time to two intelligent 
minds, and show the sagacity of both. 

But having taken hold of this idea, Mr. Gisborne 
pursued it with indomitable resolution. As the labors 
of this gentleman were most important in the begin- 
ning of this work, it is a pleasure to recognize his un- 
tiring zeal and energy. In assurance of this we could 
have no higher authority than the following from the 
late Mr. E. M. Archibald, who was at the time Attor- 
ney-General of Newfoundland, and afterwards for 
niany years British Consul at New York : 

"It was during the winter of 1849-50, that Mr. Gisborne, 
who had been, as an engineer, engaged in extending the 
electric telegraph through Lower Canada and New Bruns- 
wick to Halifax, Nova Scotia, conceived the project of a 
telegraph to connect St. John's, the most easterly port of 
America, with the main continent, The importance of the 
geographical position of Newfoundland, in the event of a 
telegraph ever being carried across the Atlantic, was about 
the same time promulgated by Dr. Mullock, the Roman 
Catholic Bishop of Newfoundland, in a St. John's newspaper. 

"In the spring of the following year (1851), Mr. Grisborne 
visited Newfoundland, appeared before the Legislature, then 
in session, and explained the details of his plan, which was 
an overland line from St. John's to Cape Ray, nearly four 
hundred miles in length, and (the submarine cable between 
Dover and Calais not having then been laid) a communica- 
tion between Cape Ray and Cape Breton by steamer and 



10 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

carrier-pigeons, eventually, it was hoped, by a submarine 
cable across the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The Legislature en- 
couraged the project, granted £500 sterling to enable Mr. 
G-isborne to make an exploratory survey of the proposed 
line to Cape Kay, and passed an act authorizing its construc- 
tion, with certain privileges, and the appointment of com- 
missioners for the purpose of carrying it out. Upon this, 
Mr. G-isborne, who was then the chief officer of the Nova 
Scotia Telegraph Company, returned to that province, re- 
signed his situation, and devoted himself to the project of 
the Newfoundland telegraph. Having organized a local 
company for the purpose of constructing the first telegraph 
line in the island, from St. John's to Carbonear, a distance 
of sixty miles, he, on the fourth of September, set out upon 
the arduous expedition of a survey of the proposed line to 
Cape Ray, which occupied upward of three months, during 
which time himself and his party suffered severe privations, 
and narrowly escaped starvation, having to traverse the 
most rugged and hitherto unexplored part of the island.* 
On his return, having reported to the Legislature favorably 
of the project, and furnished estimates of the cost, he deter- 
mined to proceed to New York, to obtain assistance to carry 
it out. , . . Mr. G-isborne returned to St. John's in the 
spring of 1852, when, at his instance, an act, incorporating 
himself (his being the only name mentioned in it) and such 
others as might become shareholders in a company, to be 

* " On the fourth day of December, I accomplished the survey through 
three hundred and fifty miles of wood and wilderness. It was an ardu- 
ous undertaking. My original party, consisting of six white men, were 
exchanged for four Indians ; of the latter party, two deserted, one died 
a few days after my return, and the other, ' Joe Paul,' has ever since 
proclaimed himself an ailing man." — Letter of Mr. Gizborne. 



THE BARRIER OF THE SEA. 11 

called the Newfoundland Electric Telegraph Company, was 
passed, granting an exclusive right to erect telegraphs in 
Newfoundland for thirty years, with certain concessions of 
land, hy way of encouragement, to be granted upon the 
completion of the telegraph from St. John's to Cape Ray. 
Mr. Gisborne then returned to New York, where he organ- 
ized, under this charter, a company, of which Mr. Tebbets 
and Mr. Holbrook* were prominent members, made his 
financial arrangements with them, and proceeded to Eng- 
land to contract for the cable from Cape Ray to Prince Ed- 
ward Island, and from thence to the mainland. Returning 
in the autumn, he proceeded in a small steamer, in November 
of that year, 1852, to stretch the first submarine cable, of any 
length, in America, across the Northumberland Strait from 
Prince Edward Island to New Brunswick, which cable, how- 
ever, was shortly afterward broken, and a new one was sub- 
sequently laid down by the New York, Newfoundland, and 
London Telegraph Company. In the spring of the follow- 
ing year, 1853, Mr. Gisborne set vigorously to work to com- 
plete his favorite project of the line (which he intended 
should be chiefly underground) from St. John's to Cape Ray. 
He had constructed some thirty or forty miles of road, and 
was proceeding with every prospect of success, when, most 
unexpectedly, those of the company who were to furnish the 
needful funds dishonored his bills, and brought his operations 
to a sudden termination. He and the creditors of the com- 
pany were for several months buoyed up with promises of 
forthcoming means from his New York allies, which prom- 
ises were finally entirely unfulfilled ; and Gisborne, being 
the only ostensible party, was sued and prosecuted on all 

* Horace B. Tebbets and Darius B. Holbrook. 



12 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

sides, stripped of his whole property, and himself arrested 
to answer the claims of the creditors of the company. He 
cheerfully and honorably gave up every thing he possessed, 
and did his utmost to relieve the severe distress in which the 
poor laborers on the line had been involved." 

This is a testimony most honorable to the engineer 
who first led the way through a pathless wilderness. 
But this Newfoundland scheme is not to be confounded 
with that of the Atlantic Telegraph, which did not 
come into existence until a year or two later. The 
latter was not at all included in the former. Indeed, 
Mr. Gisborne himself says, in a letter referring to his 
original project : " My plans were to run a subterra- 
nean line from Cape Eace to Cape Ray, fly carrier- 
pigeons and run boats across the Straits of Northum- 
berland to Cape Breton, and thence by overland lines 
convey the news to New York." He adds however : 
" Meanwhile Mr. Brett's experimental cable between 
Dover and Calais having proved successful, I set forth 
in my report, [which appeared a year after his first 
proposal], that ' carrier-pigeons and boats would be 
required only until such time as the experiments then 
making in England with submarine cables should war- 
rant a similar attempt betw T een Cape Ray and Cape 
Breton.' " But nowhere in his report does he allude 
to the possibility of ever spanning the mighty gulf 
of the Atlantic. 

But several years after, when the temporary success 



THE BARRIER OF THE SEA. 13 

of the Atlantic Telegraph gave a name to everybody 
connected with it, he or his friends seemed not unwill- 
ing to have it supposed that this was embraced in the 
original scheme. When asked why he did not publish 
his large design to the world, he answered : " Because 
I was looked upon as a wild visionary by my friends, 
and pronounced a fool by my relatives for resigning a 
lucrative government appointment in favor of such a 
laborious speculation as the Newfoundland connection. 
Now had I coupled it at that time with an Atlantic 
line, all confidence in the prior undertaking would 
have been destroyed, and my object defeated." This 
may have been a reason for not announcing such a 
project to the public, but not for withholding it from 
his friends. A man can hardly lay claim to that 
which he holds in such absolute reserve. 

However, whether he ever entertained the idea of 
such a project, is not a matter of the slightest conse- 
quence to the public, nor even to his own reputation. 
Ten years before Professor Morse had expressed, not 
a dreamer's fancy, but a deliberate conviction, founded 
on scientific experiments, that " a telegraphic com- 
munication might with certainty be established across 
the Atlantic Ocean ; " so that the idea was not original 
with Mr. Gisborne, any more than with others who 
were eager to appropriate it. 

It is a part of the history of great enterprises, 
that the moment one succeeds, a host spring up to 



14 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

claim the honor. Thus when, in 1858, the Atlantic 
Telegraph seemed to be a success, the public, knowing 
well who had borne the brunt and burden of the 
undertaking, awarded him the praise which he so well 
deserved ; but instantly there were other Richmonds 
in the field. Those who had had no part in the labor, 
at least claimed to have originated the idea ! Of 
course, these many claims destroy each other. But 
after all, to raise such a point at all is the merest 
trifling. The question is not who first had the " idea," 
but who took hold of the enterprise as a practical 
thing ; who grappled with the gigantic difficulties 
of the undertaking, and fought the battle through to 
victory. 

As to Mr. Gisborne, his activity in the beginning of 
the Newfoundland telegraph is a matter of history. 
In that preliminary work, he bore an honorable part, 
and acquired a title to respect, of which he cannot be 
deprived. All honor to him for his enterprise, his 
courage, and his perseverance ! 

But for the company of w r hich he was the father, 
which he had got up with so much toil, it lived but a 
few months, when it became involved in debt some 
fifty thousand dollars, chiefly to laborers on the line, 
and ended its existence by an ignominious failure. 
The concern was bankrupt, and it was plain that, if 
the work was not to be finally abandoned, it must be 
taken up by stronger hands. 



CHAPTER II. 

CAN THE OCEAN BE SPANNED ? 

Mr. Gisborne left Halifax and came to Xew York 
in January, 185-i. Here be took counsel with his 
friend Tebbets and others ; but they could give him no 
relief. It was while in this state of suspense that he 
met, at the Astor House, Mr. Matthew D. Field, an 
engineer who had been engaged in building railroads 
and suspension bridges at the South and West. Mr. 
Field listened to his story with interest, and engaged 
to speak of it to his brother, Cyrus "W. Field,* a mer- 
chant of Xew York, who had retired from business 
the j T ear before, and had spent six months in travelling 
over the mountains of South America, from which he 
had lately returned. Accordingly, he introduced the 
subject, but found his brother disinclined to embark in 
anv new undertaking. Though still a young man, his 
life had been for many years one of incessant devotion 
to business. He had accumulated an ample fortune, 

* Born November 30, 1819, in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, the son 
of a Congregational minister, of whom three sons are still living : Mr. 
David Dudley Field, of New York ; Mr. Justice Stephen J. Field, of the 
Supreme Court of the United States; and the writer of the present volume. 



16 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

and was not disposed to renew the cares, the anxieties, 
and the fatigues of his former life. But listening to 
the details of a scheme which had in it much to excite 
interest, and which by its very difficulty stimulated the 
spirit of enterprise, he at length consented to see Mr. 
Gisborne, and invited him to his house. Accordingly 
he came, and spent an evening describing the route of 
his proposed telegraph, and the points it was to con- 
nect. After he left, Mr. Field took the globe which 
was standing in the library , and began to turn it over. 
It was while thus studying the globe that the idea first 
occurred to him, that the telegraph might be carried fur- 
ther still, and be made to span the Atlantic Ocean. 
The idea was not original with him, though he was to 
carry it out. It was indeed new to him ; but it had 
long been a matter of speculation with scientific minds, 
though their theories had never attracted his attention. 
But once he had grasped the idea, it took strong hold 
of his imagination. Had the Newfoundland scheme 
stood alone, he would never have undertaken it. He 
cared little about shortening communication with Eu- 
rope by a day or two, by relays of boats and carrier- 
pigeons. But it was the hope of further and grander 
results that inspired him to enter on a work of which 
no man could foresee the end. 

An enterprise of such proportions, that would task 
to the utmost the science and the engineering skill 
of the world, was not to be rashly undertaken ; and 



CAN THE OCEAN BE SPANNED ? 1? 

before giving a definite reply to Gisborne, Mr. Field 
determined to apply to the highest authorities in his 
own country. 

The project of an Atlantic telegraph involved two 
problems : Could a cable be stretched across the ocean ? 
and if it were, would it be good for anything to con- 
vey messages ? The first was a question of mechani- 
cal difficulties, requiring a careful- survey of the ocean 
itself, fathoming its depth, finding out the character of 
its bottom, whether level, or rough and volcanic ; and 
all the obstacles that might be found in the winds that 
agitate the surface above, or the mighty currents that 
sweep through the waters below. The second problem 
was purely scientific, involving questions as to the laws 
of electricity, not then fully understood, and on which 
the boldest might feel that he was venturing on uncer- 
tain ground. 

Such were the two elements or forces of nature to 
be encountered — the ocean and the electric current. 
Could they be controlled by any power of man ? 
The very proposal was enough to stagger the faith 
even of an enthusiast. Who could lay a bridle on 
the neck of the sea ? The attempt seemed as idle 
as that of Xerxes to bind it with chains. Was it 
possible to combat the fierceness of the winds and 
waves, and to stretch one long line from continent to 
continent? And then, after the work was achieved, 
would the lightning; run along the ocean-bed from 



18 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

shore to shore ? Such were the questions which had 
puzzled many an anxious brain, and which now trou- 
bled the one who was to undertake the work. 

To get some light in his perplexity, Mr. Field, the 
very next morning after his interview with Gisborne, 
wrote two letters, one to Lieutenant Maury, then at the 
head of the National Observatory at Washington, on 
the nautical difficulties of the undertaking, asking if 
the sea were itself a barrier too great to be overcome ; 
and the other to Professor Morse, inquiring if it would 
be possible to telegraph over a distance so great as that 
from Europe to America? 

The mail soon brought an answer from Lieutenant 
Maury, which began : " Singularly enough, just as I 
received your letter, I was closing one to the Secretary 
of the Navy on the same subject." A copy of this he 
inclosed to Mr. Field, and it is given here. It shows 
the conclusions at which, even at that early day, scien- 
tific men were beginning to arrive : 

" National Observatory, i 
Washington, February 22, 1854. ) 

4 ' Sir : The United States brig- Dolphin, Lieutenant Com- 
manding O. H. Berryman, was employed last summer upon 
especial service connected with the researches that are car- 
ried on at this office concerning the winds and currents of 
the sea. Her observations were confined principally to that 
part of the ocean which the merchantmen, as they pass to 
and fro upon the business of trade between Europe and the 



CAN THE OCEAN BE SPANNED ? 19 

United States, use as their great thoroughfare. Lieutenant 
Berry man availed himself of this opportunity to carry along 
also a line of deep-sea soundings, from the shores of New- 
foundland to those of Ireland. The result is highly interest- 
ing, in so far as the bottom of the sea is concerned, upon the 
question of a submarine telegraph across the Atlantic ; and I 
therefore beg leave to make it the subject of a special report. 
' ' This line of deep-sea soundings seems to be decisive of 
the question of the practicability of a submarine telegraph 
between the two continents, in so far as the bottom of the 
deep sea is concerned. From Newfoundland to Ireland, the 
distance between the nearest points is about sixteen hundred 
miles ; * and the bottom of the sea between the two places is 
a plateau, which seems to have been placed there especially 
for the purpose of holding the w T ires of a submarine tele- 
graph, and of keeping them out of harm's way. It is neither 
too deep nor too shallow ; yet it is so deep that the wires but 
once landed, will remain for ever beyond the reach of ves- 
sels' anchors, icebergs, and drifts of any kind, and so shal- 
low, that the wires may be readily lodged upon the bottom. 
The depth of this plateau is quite regular, gradual^ increas- 
ing from the shores of Newfoundland to the depth of from 
fifteen hundred to two thousand fathoms, as you approach 
the other side. The distance between Ireland and Cape St. 
Charles, or Cape St. Lewis, in Labrador, is somewhat less 
than the distance from any point of Ireland to the nearest 
point of Newfoundland. But whether it would be better to 
lead the wires from Newfoundland or Labrador is not now 

* From Cape Freels, Newfoundland, to Erris Head, Ireland, the dis- 
tance is sixteen hundred and eleven miles ; from Cape Charles, or Cape 
St. Lewis, Labrador, to the same point, the distance is sixteen hundred 
and one miles. 



20 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

the question ; nor do I pretend to consider the question as to 
the possibility of finding* a time calm enough, the sea smooth 
enough, a wire long enough, a ship big enough, to lay a coil 
of wire sixteen hundred miles in length ; though I have no 
fear but that the enterprise and ingenuity of the age, when- 
ever called on Avith these problems, will be ready with a sat- 
isfactory and practical solution of them. 

1 ' I simply address myself at this time to the question in so 
far as the bottom of the sea is concerned, and as far as that, 
the greatest practical difficulties will, I apprehend, be found 
after reaching soundings at either end of the line, and not in 
the deep sea. . . . 

' ' A wire laid across from either of the above-named places 
on this side will pass to the north of the Grand Banks, 
and rest on that beautiful plateau to which I have alluded, 
where the waters of the sea appear to be as quiet and as 
completely at rest as at the bottom of a mill-pond. It is 
proper that the reasons should be stated for the inference 
that there are no perceptible currents, and no abrading 
agents at work at the bottom of the sea upon this telegraphic 
plateau. I derive this inference from a study of a physi- 
cal fact, which I little deemed, when I sought it, had any 
such bearings. 

4 4 Lieutenant Berryman brought up with Brooke's deep- 
sea sounding apparatus specimens of the bottom from this 
plateau. I sent them to Professor Bailey, of West Point, for 
examination under his microscope. This he kindly gave, 
and that eminent microscopist was quite as much surprised 
to find, as I was to learn, that all those specimens of deep-sea 
soundings are filled with microscopic shells; to use his own 
. words, not a particle of sand or gravel exists in them. 
These little shells, therefore, suggest the fact that there are 



CAN THE OCEAN BE SPANNED ? 21 

no currents at the bottom of the sea whence they came ; that 
Brooke's lead found them where they were deposited in their 
burial-place after having- lived and died on the surface, and 
by gradually sinking- were lodged on the bottom. Had there 
been currents at the bottom, these would have swept and 
abraded and mingled up with these microscopic remains the 
debris of the bottom of the sea, such as ooze, sand, gravel, 
and other matter ; but not a particle of sand or gravel was 
found among them. Hence the inference that these depths 
of the sea are not disturbed either by waves or currents. 
Consequently, a telegraphic wire once laid there, there it 
would remain, as completely beyond the reach of accident 
as it would be if buried in air-tight cases. Therefore, so far 
as the bottom of the deep sea between Newfoundland, or the 
North Cape, at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, and Ireland, 
is concerned, the practicability of a submarine telegraph 
across the Atlantic is proved. . . . 

" In this view of the subject, and for the purpose of has- 
tening the completion of such a line, I take the liberty of 
suggesting for your consideration the propriety of an offer 
from the proper source, of a prize to the company through 
whose telegraphic wire the first message shall be passed 
across the Atlantic. 

' k I have the honor to be respectfully yours, 

"M. F. Maury, 
' ' Lieutenant United States Navy. 
" Hon. J. C. Dobbin, Secretary of the Navy/' 

The reply of Professor Morse showed equal interest 
in the subject, in proof of which he wrote that he 
would come down to New York to see Mr. Field about 
it. A few days after he came, and saw Mr. Field at 



22 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

his house. This was the beginning of an acquaintance 
which soon ripened into friendship, and which hence- 
forth united these gentlemen together in this great 
achievement. Professor Morse, in conversation, entered 
at length into the laws of electricity as applied to 
the business of telegraphing, and concluded by declar- 
ing his entire faith in the undertaking as practical ; 
as one that might, could, and would, be achieved. 
Indeed, this faith he had avowed years before. In a 
letter written as early as August tenth, 1843, to John 
C. Spencer, then Secretary of the Treasury, Professor 
Morse had detailed the results of certain experiments 
made in the harbor of New York to show the power 
of electricity to communicate at great distances, at the 
close of which he says — in words that now seem pro- 
phetic : 

"The practical inference from this law is, that a tele- 
graphic communication on the electro-magnetic plan may 
with certainty be established across the Atlantic Ocean ! 
Startling as this may now seem, I am confident the time will 
come when this project will be realized. 1 ' 

It was the good fortune of Mr. Field — at that time 
and ever since — to have at hand an adviser in whose 
judgment he had implicit confidence. This was his 
eldest brother, David Dudley Field. They lived side 
by side on Gramercy Park, and were in daily com- 
munication. To the prudent counsels, wise judgment 
and unfaltering courage of the elder brother, the Atlan- 



CAN THE OCEAN BE SPANNED ? 23 

tic Telegraph is more indebted than the world will ever 
know, for its first impulse and for the spirit which 
sustained it through long years of discouragement and 
disaster, when its friends were few. To this, his near- 
est and best counsellor, Mr. Field opened the project 
which had taken possession of his mind ; and being 
strengthened by that maturer judgment, he finally 
resolved that, if he could get a sufficient number of 
capitalists to join him, he would embark in an enterprise 
which, beginning with the line to Newfoundland, in- 
volved in the end nothing less than an attempt to link 
this New "World which Columbus had discovered, to 
that Old World which had been for ages the home of 
empire and of civilization. How the scheme advanced 
through the next twelve years, it will be our province 
to relate. 



CHAPTER III. 



THE COMPANY ORGANIZED. 



And so the young New York merchant set out to 
carry a telegraph across the Atlantic Ocean ! The 
design had in it at least the merit of audacity. But 
whether the end was to be sublime or ridiculous time 
alone could tell. Certain it is that when his sanguine 
temper and youthful blood stirred him up to take hold 
of such an enterprise, he little dreamed of what it 
would involve. He thought lightly of a few thousands 
risked in an uncertain venture ; but never imagined 
that he might yet be drawn on to stake upon its 
success the whole fortune he had accumulated ; that he 
was to sacrifice all the peace and quiet he had hoped 
to enjoy ; and that for twelve years he was to be 
almost without a home, crossing and re-crossing the 
sea, urging his enterprise in Europe and America. 
But so it is, that the Being who designs great things 
for human welfare, and would accomplish them by 
human instruments, does not lift at once the curtain 
from the stern realities they are to meet, nor reveal 



THE COMPANY ORGANIZED. 25 

the rugged ascents they are to climb ; so that it is only 
when at last the heights are attained, and they look 
backward, that they realize through what they have 
passed. 

But could he find anybody to join him in his bold 
undertaking ? Starving adventurers there always are, 
ready to embark in any Quixotic attempt, since they 
have nothing to lose. But would men of sense and 
of character ; men who had fortunes to keep, and the 
habit which business gives of looking calmly and sus- 
piciously at probabilities ; be found to put capital in an 
enterprise where, if it failed, they would find their 
money literally at the bottom of the sea ? It seemed 
doubtful, but he w T ould try. His plan was, if possible, 
to enlist ten capitalists, all gentlemen of wealth, who 
together could lift a pretty heavy load ; who, if need 
were, could easily raise a million of dollars, to carry 
out any undertaking. 

The first man whom he addressed was his next- 
door neighbor, Mr. Peter Cooper, in whom he found 
the indisposition which a man of large fortune — now 
well advanced in life — would naturally feel to embark 
in new enterprises. The reluctance in this case was 
not so much to the risking of capital, as to having his 
mind occupied with the care which it would impose. 
These objections slowly yielded to other considerations. 
As they talked it over, the large heart of Mr. Cooper 
began to see that, if it were possible to accomplish 



26 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

such a work, it would be a great public benefit. This 
consideration prevailed, and what would not have been 
undertaken as a private speculation, was yielded to 
public interest. The conference ended by a condi- 
tional agreement to engage in it, if several others did, 
and, as we shall see, when the Company was organized, 
he became its President. 

The early accession of this gentleman gave strength 
to the new enterprise. In all the million inhabitants 
of the city of New York there was not a name which 
was better known, or more justly held in honor, than 
that of Peter Cooper. A native of the city, where 
he had passed his whole life, he had seen its growth, 
from the small town it w r as after the War of the Eev- 
olution, and had himself grown with it. Beginning 
w x ith very small means and limited opportunities, he 
had become one of its great capitalists. Many who 
thus rise to wealth, in the process of accumulation, form 
penurious habits which cling to them, and to the end 
of their days it is the chief object of life to hoard and 
to keep. But Mr. Cooper, while acquiring the fortune, 
had also the heart, of a prince ; and used his wealth 
with a noble generosity. In the centre of New York 
stands to-day a massive building, erected at a cost 
of nearly a million of dollars, and consecrated " To 
Science and Art." This was Mr. Cooper's gift to his 
native city. Remembering his own limited advan- 
tages of education, he desired that the young men of 



THE COMPANY ORGANIZED. 27 

New York, the apprentices and mechanics, should 
have better opportunities than he had enjoyed. For 
this he endowed courses of lectures on the natural sci- 
ences ; he opened the largest reading-room in America, 
which furnishes a pleasant resort to thousands of 
readers daily ; while to help the other sex, he added 
a School of Design for "Women, which trains hundreds 
to be teachers, and some of them artists ; who go 
forth into the world to earn an honest living, and to 
bless the memory of their generous benefactor. This 
noble institution, standing in the heart of the city, is 
his enduring monument. 

Yet while doing so much for the public, those who 
saw Peter Cooper in his family knew how he retained 
the simple habits of early life — how, while giving 
hundreds of thousands to others, he cared to spend 
little on himself ; how he remained the same modest, 
kindly old man ; the pure, the generous, and the 
good. His was 

" The good gray head that all nien knew," 

and that was sadly missed when, nearly thirty years 
after, in 1883, at the age of ninety-two, he was borne 
to his grave. It is a pleasant remembrance that the 
beginning of this enterprise was connected with that 
honored name. 

Mr. Field next addressed himself to Mr. Moses Tay- 
lor, a well-known capitalist of New York, engaged in 



2$ STORY OP THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

extensive business reaching to different parts of the 
world, and whose daily observation of all sorts of enter- 
prises, both sound and visionary, made him perhaps a 
severer judge of any new scheme. With this gentle- 
man he had then no personal acquaintance, but sent a 
note of introduction from his brother, David Dudley 
Field, with a line requesting an interview, to which Mr. 
Taylor replied by an invitation to his house on an even- 
ing- when he should be disengaged. As these two gen- 
tlemen afterwards became very intimately associated, 
they often recurred to their first interview. Said Mr. 
Field : " I shall never forget how Mr. Taylor received 
me. He fixed on me his keen eye, as if he would look 
through me : and then, sitting down, he listened to me 
for nearly an hour without saying a word.' 5 This was 
rather an ominous beginning. However, his quick 
mind soon saw the possibilities of the enterprise,' and 
the evening ended by an agreement — conditional, like 
Mr. Cooper's — to enter into it. 

Mr. Taylor, being thus enlisted, brought in his friend, 
Mr. Marshall O. Roberts — a man whose career has 
been too remarkable to be passed without notice. A 
native of the City of New York, (though his father 
was a physician from Wales, who came to this country 
early in this century,) he found himself, when a boy of 
eight years, an orphan, without a friend in the world. 
From that time he made his way purely by his own 
industry and indomitable will. At the age of twenty 



THE COMPANY ORGANIZED. 29 

he was embarked in business for himself, and his his- 
tory soon became a succession of great enterprises. 
If we were to relate some of the incidents connected 
with his rise of fortune, they would sound more like 
romance than reality. He was the first to project 
those floating palaces which now ply the waters of 
the Hudson and the great lakes. He was one of the 
early promoters of the Erie Railroad. When the dis- 
covery of gold in California turned the tide of emi- 
gration to that coast, he started the line of steamers 
to the Isthmus of Panama, and controlled largely 
the commerce with the Pacific. Thus his hand w x as 
felt, giving impulse to many different enterprises on 
land and sea. His whole course was marked by a 
spirit of commercial daring, which men called rashness, 
until they saw its success, and then applauded as mar- 
vellous sagacity. 

Mr. Field next wrote to Mr. Chandler White, a per- 
sonal friend of many years' standing, who had retired 
from business, and was living a few miles below the 
citv, near Fort Hamilton, at one of those beautiful 
points of view which command the whole harbor of 
New York. He too was very slow to yield to argu- 
ment or persuasion. Why should he — when he had 
cast anchor in this peaceful spot — again embark in the 
cares of business, and, worst of all, in an enterprise the 
scene of which was far distant, and the results very 
uncertain? But enthusiasm is always magnetic, and 



30 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

the glowing descriptions of his persuader at length 
prevailed.* 

There were now five gentlemen enlisted ; and Mr. 
Field was about to apply to others, to make up his 
proposed number, when Mr. Cooper came to ask why 
five would not do as well as ten ? The question was 
no sooner asked than answered. To this all agreed, 
and at once fixed an evening when they should meet 
at Mr. Field's house to hear his statements and to ex- 
amine the charter of the old company, find out what it 
had done, and what it proposed to do, what property 
it had and what debts it owed ; and decide whether 
the enterprise offered sufficient inducements to embark 
in it. Accordingly they met, and for four nights in 
succession discussed the subject. It was in the dining- 
room of Mr. Field's house, and the large table was 
spread with maps of the route to be traversed by the 
line of telegraph, and with plans and estimates of the 
work to be done, the cost of doing it, and the return 
which they might hope in the end to realize for their 
labor and their capital. The result was an agreement 

* Although it is anticipating a year in time, I cannot resist the pleas- 
ure of adding here the name of another eminent merchant, who after- 
ward joined this little Company, Mr. Wilson G. Hunt. Mr. Hunt is one 
of the old merchants of New York who, through his whole career, has 
maintained the highest reputation for commercial integrity, and whose 
fortune is the reward of a long life of honorable industry. He joined 
the Company in 1855, and was a strong and steady friend through all its 
troubles till the final success. 



THE COMPANY ORGANIZED. 31 

on the part of all to enter on the undertaking, if the 
Government of Newfoundland would grant a new 
charter conceding more favorable terms. To secure 
this it was important to send at once a commission to 
Xewfoundland. Neither Mr. Cooper, Mr. Taylor, nor 
Mr. Roberts could go; and it devolved on Mr. Field 
to make the first voyage on this business, as it did to 
make many voyages afterwards to Newfoundland, and 
still more across the Atlantic. But not wishing to 
take the whole responsibility, he was accompanied at 
his earnest request by Mr. White, and by Mr. D. D. 
Field, whose counsel, as he was to be the legal adviser 
of the Company, was all-important in the framing of 
the new charter that was to secure its rights. The 
latter thus describes this first expedition : 

"The agreement with the Electric Telegraph Company, 
and the formal surrender of its charter, were signed on the 
tenth of March, [1854,] and on the fourteenth we left New 
York, accompanied by Mr. Gisborne. The next morning 
we took the steamer at Boston for Halifax, and thence, on 
the night of the eighteenth, departed in the little steamer 
Merlin for St. John's, Newfoundland. Three more disagree- 
able days, voyagers scarcely ever passed, than we spent in 
that smallest of steamers. It seemed as if all the storms of 
winter had been reserved for the first month of spring. A 
frost-bound coast, an icy sea, rain, hail, snow and tempest, 
were the greetings of the telegraph adventurers in their first 
movement toward Europe. In the darkest night, through 
which no man could see the ship's length, with snow filling 



32 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

the air and flying into the eyes of the sailors, with ice in the 
water, and a heavy sea rolling* and moaning about us, the 
captain felt his way around Cape Race with his lead, as the 
blind man feels his way with his staff, but as confidently 
and as safely as if the sky had been clear and the sea calm ; 
and the light of morning dawned upon deck and mast 
and spar, coated with glittering ice, but floating securely 
between the mountains which form the gates of the harbor 
of St. John's. In that busy and hospitable town, the first 
person to whom we were introduced was Mr. Edward M. 
Archibald, then Attorney-General of the Colony, and now 
British Consul in New York. He entered warmly into our 
views, and from that day to this, has been an efficient and 
consistent supporter of the undertaking. By him we were 
introduced to the Governor, (Kerr Bailey Hamilton,) who 
also took an earnest interest in our plans. He convoked the 
Council to receive us, and hear an explanation of our views 
and wishes. In a few hours after the conference, the 
answer of the Governor and Council was received, con- 
senting to recommend to the Assembly a guarantee of the 
interest of £50,000 of bonds, an immediate grant of fifty 
square miles of land, a further grant to the same extent on 
the completion of the telegraph across the ocean, and a pay- 
ment of £5,000 toward the construction of a bridle-path 
across the island, along the line of the land telegraph." 

This was a hopeful beginning; and, though the 
charter was not yet obtained, feeling assured by this 
official encouragement, and the public interest in the 
project, that it would be granted by the colony, Mr. 
Field remained in St. John's but three days, when 
he took the Merlin back to Halifax on his way to 



THE COMPANY ORGANIZED. 33 

New York, there to purchase and send down a steamer 
for the service of the Company, leaving his associates 
to secure the charter and to carry out the arrange- 
ments with the former company. To settle all these 
details was necessarily a work of time. First, the 
charter of the old Electric Telegraph Company had 
to be repealed, to clear the way for a new charter to 
the Company, which was to bear the more comprehen- 
sive title of ;i Xew York, Newfoundland, and London" 
This charter — which had been drawn with the greatest 
care by the counsel of the Company, while on the 
voyage to Newfoundland — bore on its very front the 
declaration that the plans of the new Company were 
much broader than those of the old. In the former 
charter, the design was thus set forth : 

"The telegraph line of this company is designed to be 
strictly an 'Inter-Continental Telegraph.' Its termini will 
be New York, in the United States, and London, in the 
kingdom of Great Britain ; these points are to be connected 
by a line of electric telegraph from Xew York to St. John's. 
Newfoundland, partly on poles, partly laid in the ground, 
and partly through the water, and a line of the swiftest 
steamships ever built from that point to Ireland. The 
trips of these steamships, it is expected, will not exceed five 
days, and as very little time will be occupied in transmitting 
messages between St. John's and New York, the communi- 
cation between the latter city and London or Liverpool; will 
be effected in six days, or less. The company will have 

likewise stationed at St. John's a steam yacht, for the purpose 
3 



34 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

of intercepting the European and American steamships, so 
that no opportunity may be lost in forwarding intelligence 
in advance of the ordinary channels of communication." 

But the charter of the New York, Newfoundland, 
and London Telegraph Company, which w r as now to be 
obtained, began by declaring, in its very first sentence : 
" Whereas it is deemed advisable to establish a line of 
telegraphic communication between America and Eu- 
rope by w r ay of Newfoundland." Not a word is said 
of fast ships, of communications in less than six days, 
but every thing points to a line across the ocean. Thus 
one section gives authority to establish a submarine 
telegraph across the ocean, from Newfoundland to Ire- 
land ; another section prohibits any other company or 
person from touching the coast of Newfoundland or its 
dependencies [which includes Labrador] with a tele- 
graphic cable or wire, from any point whatever, for 
fifty years ; and a third section grants the Company 
fifty square miles of land upon the completion of the 
submarine line across the Atlantic. 

In other respects the charter was equally liberal. It 
incorporated the associates for fifty years, established 
perfect equality, in respect to corporators and officers, 
between citizens of the United States and British sub- 
jects, and allowed the meetings of the stockholders and 
directors to be held in New York, in Newfoundland, or 
in London. 

To obtain such concessions was a work of some diffi- 



THE COMPANY ORGANIZED. 35 

culty and delay. The Legislature of the province were 
naturally anxious to scan carefully conditions that were 
to bind them and their children for half a century. I 
have now before me the papers of St. John's of that 
day, containing the discussions in the Legislature ; and 
while all testify to the deep public interest in the proj- 
ect, they show a due care for the interests of their 
own colony, which they were bound to protect. At 
length all difficulties were removed, and the charter 
was passed unanimously by the Assembly, and con- 
firmed by the Council. 

This happy result was duly celebrated, in the man- 
ner which all Englishmen approve, by a grand dinner 
given by the commissioners of the new Company, 
to the members of the Assembly and other dignitaries 
of the colony, at which there were eloquent prophe- 
cies of the good time coming, showing how heartily 
the enterprise was welcomed by all classes ; and how 
fond were the anticipations of the increased inter- 
course it would bring, and the manifold benefits it 
would confer on their long-neglected island. 

No sooner were the papers signed, than the wheels, 
so long blocked, were unloosed, and the machinery 
began to move. Mr. White at once drew on New 
York for fifty thousand dollars, and paid off all 
the debts of the old company. A St. John's news- 
paper of April 8th, 1854:, amid a great deal on the 



subject, contain 



* this, I^i^g^fStiJ/ wli^ch is very sig- 

IN 30 1893 
DEP1 r 



36 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

nificant of the dead state of the old company, and of 
the life of the new : 

' ' The office of the new Electric Telegraph Company has 
been surrounded the last two or three days by the men who 
had been engaged the last year on the line, and who are 
being paid all debts, dues, and demands against the old 
association. We look upon the readiness with which these 
claims are liquidated as a substantial indication on the part 
of the new Company that they will complete to the letter all 
that they have declared to accomplish in this important 
undertaking." 

In the early part of May, the two gentlemen who 
had remained behind in Newfoundland rejoined their 
associates in New York, and there the charter was 
formally accepted and the Company organized. As all 
the associates had not arrived till Saturday evening, 
the 6th of May, and as one of them was to leave town 
on Monday morning, it was agreed that they should 
meet for organization at six o'clock of that day. At 
that hour they came to the house of Mr. Field's 
brother Dudley, and as the first rays of the morning 
sun streamed into the windows, the formal organiza- 
tion took place. The charter was accepted, the stock 
subscribed, and the officers chosen. Mr. Cooper, Mr. 
Taylor, Mr. Field, Mr. Roberts, and Mr. White were 
the first directors. Mr. Cooper was chosen President, 
Mr. White, Vice-President, and Mr. Taylor, Treasurer. 

This is a short story, and soon told. It seemed a 



THE COMPANY ORGANIZED. 37 

light affair, for half a dozen men to meet in the early 
morning and toss off such a business before break- 
fast. But what a work was that to which they thus 
put their hands ! A capital of a million and a half 
of dollars was subscribed in those few minutes, and a 
company put in operation that was to carry a line of 
telegraph to St. John's, more than a thousand miles 
from New York, and then to span the wild sea. Well 
was it that they who undertook the work did not then 
fully realize its magnitude, or they would have shrunk 
from the attempt. Well was it for them that the veil 
was not lifted, which shut from their eyes the long 
delay, the immense toil, and the heavy burdens of 
many wearisome years. Such a prospect might have 
chilled the most sanguine spirit. But a kind Provi- 
dence gives men strength for their day, imposes bur- 
dens as they are able to bear them, and thus leads 
them on to greater achievements than they knew. 



CHAPTEK IV. 



CROSSING NEWFOUNDLAND. 



There is nothing in the world easier than to build 
a line of railroad, or of telegraph, on paper. You 
have only to take the map, and mark the points to be 
connected, and then with a single sweep of tne pencil 
to draw the line along which the iron track is to run. 
In this airy flight of the imagination, distances are 
nothing. A thousand leagues vanish at a stroke. All 
obstacles disappear. The valleys are exalted, and the 
hills are made low, soaring arches span the mountain 
streams, and the chasms are leaped in safety by the 
fire-drawn cars. 

Very different is it to construct a line of railroad 
or of telegraph in reality; to come with an army of 
laborers, with axes on their shoulders to cut down the 
forests, and with spades in their hands to cast up the 
highway. Then poetry sinks to prose, and instead 
of flying over the space on wings, one must traverse 
it on foot, slowly and with painful steps. Nature 
asserts her power ; and, as if resentful of the disdain 
with which man in his pride affected to leap over her, 
she piles up new barriers in his way. The mountains 



CROSSING NEWFOUNDLAND. 39 

with their rugged sides cannot be moved out of their 
place, the rocks must be cleft in twain, to open a 
passage for the conqueror, before he can begin his 
triumphal march. The woods thicken into an impas- 
sable jungle; and the morass sinks deeper, threaten- 
ing to swallow up the horse and his rider ; until the 
rash projector is startled at his own audacity. Then 
it becomes a contest of forces between man and nature, 
in which, if he would be victorious, he must fight his 
way. The barriers of nature cannot be lightly pushed 
aside, but must yield at last only to time and toil, and 
" man's unconquerable will." 

Seldom have all these obstacles been combined in a 
more formidable manner to obstruct any public work, 
than against the attempt to build a telegraph line 
across the island of Newfoundland. The distance, 
by the route to be traversed, was over four hundred 
miles, and the country was a wilderness, an utter deso- 
lation. Yet through such a country, over mountain 
and moor, through, tangled brake and rockv gorge, 
over rivers and through morasses, they were to build 
a road— not merely a line of telegraph stuck on poles, 
but "a good and traversable bridle-road, eight feet 
wide, with bridges of the same width," from end to 
end of the island. 

But nothing daunted, the new Company undertook 
the great work with spirit and resolution. Gisborne 
had made a beginning, and got some thirty or forty 



40 STORY OP THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

miles out of St. John's. This was the easiest part 
of the whole route, being in the most inhabited region 
of the island. But here he broke down, just where 
it was necessary to leave civilization behind, and to 
plunge into the wilderness. 

Intending to resume the work on a much larger 
scale, Mr. White, the Yice-President, was sent down 
to St. John's to be the General Agent of the Com- 
pany; while Mr. Matthew D. Field, as a practical 
engineer, was to have charge of the construction of 
the line. The latter soon organized a force of six 
hundred men, which he pushed forward in detach- 
ments to the scene of operations. 

And now began to appear still more the difficulties 
of the way. To provide subsistence for man and 
beast, it was necessary to keep near the coast, for all 
supplies had to be sent round by sea. Yet in fol- 
lowing the coast line, they had to wind around bays, 
or to climb over headlands. If they struck into the 
interior, they had to cut their way through the dense 
and tangled wood. There was not a path to guide 
them, not even an Indian trail. When lost in the 
forest, they had to follow the compass, as much as the 
mariner at sea. 

To keep such a force in the field, that, like an army, 
produced nothing, but consumed fearfully, required 
constant attention to the commissar}^ department. The 
little steamer Victoria, which belonged to the Company, 



CROSSING NEWFOUNDLAND. 41 

was kept plying along the coast, carrying barrels of 
pork and potatoes, kegs of powder, pickaxes and spades 
and shovels, and all the implements of labor. These 
were taken up to the heads of the bays, and thence 
carried, chiefly on men's backs, over the hills to the 
line of the road. 

In many respects, it had the features of a military 
expedition. It moved forward in a great camp. The 
men were sheltered in tents, when sheltered at all, or 
in small huts which they built along the road. But 
more often they slept on the ground. It was a wild 
and picturesque sight to come upon their camp in the 
woods, to see their fires blazing at night while hun- 
dreds of stalwart sleepers lay stretched on the ground. 
Sometimes, when encamped on the hills, they could be 
seen afar off at sea. It made a pretty picture then. 
But the hardy pioneers thought little of the figure they 
were making, when they were exposed to the fury of 
the elements. Often the rain fell in torrents, and the 
men, crouching under their slight shelter, listened sadly 
to the sighing of the wind among the trees, answered 
by the desolate moaning of the sea. 

Yet in spite of all obstacles, the work went on. All 
through the long days of summer, and through the 
months of autumn, every cove and creek along that 
southern coast heard the plashing of their oars, and 
the steady stroke of their axes resounded through the 
forest. 



42 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

But as the season advanced, all these difficulties in- 
creased. For nearly half the year, the island is buried 
in snow. Blinding drifts sweep over the moors, and 
choke up the paths of the forest. How at such times 
the expedition lay floundering in the woods, still 
struggling to force its way onward ; what hardships 
and sufferings the men endured — all this is a chapter 
in the History of the Telegraph which has not been 
written, and which can never be fully told. The 



\< 



Gentlemen of England, 
Who dwell at home at ease, 

and who are justly proud of the extent of their domin- 
ions, and the life and power which pervade the whole, 
may here find another example of the way in which 
great works are borne forward in distant parts of their 
empire. 

But to carry out such an enterprise, requires head- 
work as well as hand-work. Engineering in the field 
must be supported by financiering at home. It was 
here the former enterprise broke down, and now it 
needed constant watching to keep the wheels in steady 
motion. The directors in New York found the de- 
mand increasing day by day. The minds which had 
grasped the large design must now descend to an in- 
finity of detail. They had to keep an army of men at 
work, at a point a thousand miles away, far beyond 
their immediate oversight. Drafts for money came 



CROSSING NEWFOUNDLAND. 43 

thick and fast. To provide for all these required 
constant attention. How faithfully they gave to this 
enterprise, not only their money, but their time and 
thought, few will know ; but those who have seen can 
testify. In the autumn of that year, 1854, the writer 
removed to the city of New York, and was almost 
daily at the house of Mr. Field. Yet for months it 
was hardly possible to go there of an evening without 
finding the library occupied by the Company. Indeed, 
so uniformly was this the case, that " The Telegraph " 
began to be regarded by the family as an unwelcome 
intruder, since it put an interdict on the former social 
evenings and quiet domestic enjoyment. The circum- 
stance shows the ceaseless care on the part of the 
directors which the enterprise involved. As a witness 
of their incessant labor, it is due to them to bear this 
testimony to their patience and their fidelity. 

"When they began the work, they hoped to carry the 
line across Newfoundland in one year, completing it in 
the summer of 1855. In anticipation of this, Mr. Field 
was sent by the Company to England at the close of 
1854, to order a cable to span the Gulf of St. Law- 
rence, to connect Cape Ray with the island of Cape 
Breton. This was his first voyage across the ocean on 
the business of the Telegraph — to be followed by more 
than forty others. In London he met for the first 
time Mr. John "W. Brett, with whom he was to be 
afterward connected in the larger enterprise of the 



44 STORY OP THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

Atlantic Telegraph. Mr. Brett was the father of sub- 
marine telegraphy in Europe, though in carrying out 
his first projects he was largely indebted to Mr. Cramp- 
ton, a well-known engineer of London, who aided him 
both with advice and capital. With this invaluable 
assistance, he had stretched two lines across the British 
channel. From his success in passing these waters, he 
believed a line might yet be stretched from continent 
to continent. The scientific men of England were not 
generally educated up to that point. The bare sug- 
gestion was received with a smile of -incredulitv.* But 
Mr. Brett had faith, even at that early day, and en- 
tered heartily into the schemes of Mr. Field. To show 
his interest, he afterward took a few shares in the 
Newfoundland line — the only Englishman who had 
any part in this preliminary w r ork. 

The summer came, and the work in Newfoundland, 
though not complete, was advancing; and the cable 

* One or two exceptions there were, not to be forgotten. Professor 
William Thomson, of the University of Glasgow, then a young man, but 
full of the enthusiasm of science, was already prepared to welcome such 
a project, with confidence of success. As early as October and Novem- 
ber, 1854, he wrote to the Secretary of the Royal Society of London, de- 
claring his belief in its practicability. The letters are published in the 
Proceedings of the Royal Society for 1855. Such faith was not vision- 
ary, for it was based on clearer knowledge and more thorough investiga- 
tion, and gave promise of those eminent services which this gentleman 
was afterwards to reuder to the cause of electrical science. • Mr. C. F. 
Varley, also, was one of the first to perceive the possibility of an ocean 
telegraph, as he was to contribute greatly to its final success = 

• 



CROSSING NEWFOUNDLAND. 45 

in England was finished and shipped on board the bark 
Sarah L. Bryant to cross the sea. Anticipating its 
arrival, the Company chartered a steamer to go down 
to Newfoundland to assist in its submersion across the 
Gulf of St. Lawrence. As yet they had no experience 
in the business of laying a submarine telegraph, and 
did not doubt that the work could be accomplished 
with the greatest ease. It was therefore to be an ex- 
cursion of pleasure as well as of business, and accord- 
ingly they invited a large party to go with them to 
witness the unaccustomed spectacle. 

As we chanced to be among the guests, we have the 
best reason to remember it. Seldom has a more pleas- 
ant party been gathered for any expedition. Repre- 
senting the Company were Mr. Field, Mr. Peter Cooper, 
Mr. Robert W. Lowber, and Professor Morse; while 
among the invited guests were gentlemen of all pro- 
fessions — clergymen, doctors and lawyers, artists and 
editors. In the groups on the deck were the venerable 
Dr. Gardiner Spring and Rev. J. M. Sherwood ; Dr. 
Lewis A. Sayre, Bayard Taylor, the well-known travel- 
ler, Mr. Fitz- James O'Brien, and Mr. John Mullaly — 
the three latter gentlemen representing leading papers 
of New York.* Besides these, the party included a 

* The letters of Mr. Taylor, which first appeared in The New York 
Tribune have been since collected in one of his volumes of travel. Mr. 
O'Brien, a very brilliant writer, who afterward fell in our civil war, 
fighting bravely for his adopted country, furnished some spirited letters 
to The Times. But Mr. Mullaly, who appeared for The Herald, was the 



46 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

large number of ladies, who gave life and animation to 
the company. 

Well does the writer recall the morning of de- 
parture — the seventh day of August, 1855. Never did 
a voyage begin with fairer omens. It was a bright 
summer day. The sky was clear, and the water 
smooth. We were on the deck of the good ship James 
Adger, long known as one of the fine steamers belong- 
ing to the Charleston line. She was a swift ship, and 
cut the water like an arrow. Thus we sped down the 
bay, and turning into the ocean, skimmed along the 
shores of Long Island. The sea was tranquil as a lake. 
The whole party were on deck, scattered in groups 
here and there, watching the sails and the shore. A 
rude telegraph instrument furnished entertainment and 
instruction, especially as we had Professor Morse to 
explain his marvellous invention, which some who 
listened then for the first time understood. 

At Halifax, several of us left the ship, and came 
across Nova Scotia, passing through that lovely region 

most persevering attendant on the Telegraph, and the most indefatigable 
correspondent. He accompanied not only this expedition, but several 
others. He was on board the Niagara in 1857, and again in both the 
expeditions of 1858 ; and on the final success of the cable, prepared a 
volume, which was published by the Appletons, giving a history of the 
enterprise. This contains the fullest account of all those expeditions 
which has been given to the public. I have had frequent occasion to 
refer to his book, and can bear witness to the interest of the narrative. 
It is written with spirit, and doubtless would have had a longer life, if 
the cable itself had not come to an untimelv end. 



CROSSING NEWFOUNDLAND. 47 

of Acadia which Longfellow has invested with such 
tender interest in his poem of Evangeline. Thence we 
crossed the Bay of Fundy to St. John in New Bruns- 
wick, and returned by way of Portland. 

The James Adger went on to Newfoundland, steer- 
ing first for Port au Basque, near Cape Ray, where 
they hoped to meet the bark which was to come from 
England with the cable on board. To their disap- 
pointment, it had not arrived. Mr. Canning, the 
engineer who was to lay the cable, had come out by 
steamer, and was on hand, but the bark was not to be 
seen. Having to wait several days, and wishing to 
make the most of their time, they sailed for St. John's, 
where they were received by the Provincial Govern- 
ment and the people with unbounded hospitality, after 
which they returned to Port au Basque, and were now 
rejoiced to discover the little bark hidden behind the 
rocks. It was decided to land the cable in Cape Pay 
Cove. After a day or two's delay in getting the end 
to the shore, they started to cross the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence, the Adger towing the bark. The sea was 
calm, and though they were obliged to move slowly, yet 
all promised well, till they were about half-way across, 
when a gale arose, which pitched the bark so violently, 
that with its unwieldy bulk it was in great danger of 
sinking. After holding on for hours in the vain hope 
that it would abate, the captain cut the cable to save 
the bark; and thus, after they had paid out forty 



48 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

miles, it was hopelessly lost, and the Adger returned 
to New York. 

This loss was owing partly to the severity of the 
gale, and partly to the fact that the bark which had 
the cable on board was wholly unfitted for the pur- 
pose. It was a sailing-vessel, and had to be tow^ed by 
another ship. In this way it was impossible to regu- 
late its motion. It was too fast or too slow. It was 
liable to be swayed by the sea, now giving a lurch 
ahead, and now dragging behind. Experience showed 
that a cable should always be laid from a steam vessel 
which could regulate its own motion, running out 
freely when all went smoothly, and checking its 
speed instantly when it was necessary to ease up the 
strain, or to pay out more slack to fill up the hollows 
of the sea. 

This first loss of a submarine cable was a severe 
disappointment to the Company. It postponed the 
enterprise for a whole year. To make a new cable 
would require several months, and the season was so 
far advanced that it could not be laid before another 
summer. Was it strange if some of the little band 
began to ask if they had not lost enough, and to 
reason that it was better to stop where thej^ were, 
than to go on still farther, casting their treasures into 
the sea ? 

But there was in that little company a spirit of hope 
and determination that could not be subdued ; that 



CROSSING NEWFOUNDLAND. 49 

ever cried : " Once more unto the breach, good friends ! " 
After some deliberation, it was resolved to renew the 
attempt. Mr. Field again sailed for England to order 
another cable, which was duly made and sent out the 
following summer. This time, warned by experience, 
the Company invited no party and made no display. 
The cable was placed on board a steamer fitted for the 
purpose ; from which it was laid without accident, and 
remained in perfect working order for nine years. 

Meanwhile the work on land had been pushed for- 
ward without ceasing. After incredible labor, the 
Company had built a road and a telegraph from one 
end of Newfoundland to the other, four hundred miles ; 
and, as if that were not enough, had built also an- 
other line, one hundred and forty miles in length, in 
the island of Cape Breton. The first part of their 
work was now done. The telegraph had been carried 
beyond the United States through the British Prov- 
inces to St. John's in Newfoundland, a distance from 
New York of over one thousand miles. 

The cost of the line, thus far, had been about a 
million of dollars, and of this the whole burden, with 
but trifling exceptions, had fallen upon the original 
projectors — Mr. Field having put in over two hundred 
thousand dollars in money — and Mr. Cooper, Mr. 
Taylor, and Mr. Eoberts each a little less. No other 
contributors beyond the six original subscribers had 
come, except Professor Morse, Mr. Eobert W. Low- 
4 



50 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

ber, Mr. Wilson G. Hunt, and Mr. John W. Brett. 
The list of directors and officers remained as it was 
at first, except that this year, 1856, Mr. White died, 
and his place as director was filled by Mr. Hunt, and 
that Mr. Field was chosen Vice-President, and Mr. 
Lowber Secretary. In all the operations of the Com- 
pany thus far, the various negotiations, the plan of the 
work, the oversight of its execution, and the corre- 
spondence with the officers and others, mainly devolved 
upon Mr. Field. 

And so at length, after two long and weary years, 
these bold projectors had accomplished half their work. 
They had pas'sed over the land, and under the Gulf of 
St. Lawrence, and having reached the farthest point 
of the American coast, they now stood upon the cliffs 
of Newfoundland, looking off upon the wide sea. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE DEEP-SEA SOUNDINGS. 

When a landsman, born far away among the moun- 
tains, comes down to the coast, and stands for the first 
time on the shore of the sea, it excites in him a feeling 
of awe and wonder, not unmingled with terror. There 
it lies, a level surface, with nothing that lifts up its 
head like a peak of his native hills. And vet it is so 
vast, stretching away to the horizon, and all over the 
sides of the round world; with its tides and currents 
that sweep from the equator to the pole; with its 
unknown depths and its ceaseless motion ; that it is 
to him the highest emblem of majesty and of power — 
a not unworthy symbol of God himself. 

In proportion to its mystery is the terror which 
hangs over it. A vague dread always surrounds the 
unknown. And what so unknown as the deep, un- 
fathomable sea ? For thousands of years the sails of 
ships, like winged birds, have skimmed over it, yet 
it has remained the one thing in nature beyond alike 
man's knowledge and his power : 

Man marks the earth with ruin, 
His control stops with the shore. 



52 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

And the little that has been known of the ocean 
has been chiefly of its surface, of the winds that blow 
over it, and the waves that are lifted up on high. We 
knew somewhat of its tides and currents as observed 
in different parts of the earth. We saw" off our coast 
the great Gulf Stream — that steady flow of waters, so 
mighty and mysterious, which, issuing out of the trop- 
ical regions, poured its w^arm current, sixty miles 
broad, right through the cold waters of the North 
Atlantic ; and sweeping round, sent the airs of a softer 
climate over all the countries of Western Europe. 
Old voyagers told us of the trade-winds that blew 
across the Pacific, and of terrible monsoons in China 
and Indian seas. But all that did not reveal what 
was going on a hundred fathoms below the surface. 
These old sailors had marvellous tales of Indian pearl- 
divers, who, holding their breath, plunged to the depth 
of a few hundred feet ; but they came up half -dead, 
with but little to tell except of the frightful monsters 
of the deep. The diving-bell was let down over 
sunken wrecks, but the divers came up only with tales 
of riches and ruin, of gold and gems and dead men's 
bones that lay mingled together on the deep sea floor. 
Was the bottom of the sea all like this? Was it a 
vast realm of death, the sepulchre of the world ? No 
man could tell us. Poets might sing of the caves of 
ocean, but no eye of science had yet penetrated those 
awful depths, which the storms never reach. 



THE DEEP-SEA SOUNDINGS. 53 

It is indeed marvellous how little was known, up to 
a very recent date, of the true character of the ocean. 
Navigators had often tried to find out how deep it 
was. When lying becalmed on a tranquil sea, they 
had amused themselves by letting down a long line, 
weighted with a cannon-ball, to see if they could 
touch bottom. But the results were very uncertain. 
Sometimes the line ran out for miles and miles, but 
whether it was all the while descending, or was swayed 
hither and thither by mighty under-currents, could not 
be known. 

But this true character of the ocean it was neces- 
sary to determine, before it could be possible to 
pass the gulf of the Atlantic. What was there on 
the bottom of the sea, where the cable was to find 
its resting place? Was that ocean-bed a w r ide level 
plain, or had it been heaved up by volcanic forces 
into a hundred mountain-peaks, with many a gorge 
and precipice between? Such was the character of 
a part of the basin of the ocean. Here and there, 
all over the globe, are islands, like the Peak of 
Teneriffe, thrown up in some fierce bursting of the 
crust of our planet, that shoot up in tremendous cliffs 
from the sea. Who shall say that the same cliffs do 
not shoot down below the waves a thousand fathoms 
deep? And might there not be such islands, which 
did not show their heads above the surface, lying in 
the track between Europe and America ; or perchance 



54 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

a succession of mountain ranges, over which the cable 
would have to be stretched, and where hanging from 
the heights it would swing with the tide, till at last it 
snapped and fell into the abyss below ? Such at least 
were possible dangers to be encountered ; and it was 
not safe to advance a step till the basin of the North 
Atlantic was explored. 

The progress of invention, so rapid on land, at 
length found a way of penetrating the sea, and even 
of turning up its bottom to the gaze of men. To 
measure the depth with something like mathemati- 
cal accuracy, an instrument was introduced known 
among nautical men as Massey's Indicator, the method 
of which is very clearly explained in an article w r hich 
appeared in one of the New York papers, (The Times,) 
on the deep-sea soundings made for the Atlantic Tele- 
graph : 

' ' The old system is with a small line, marked at distances 
of one hundred fathoms, and with a weight of thirty or fifty 
pounds, the depth being told by the length of line run out. 
This is, of course, the most natural apparatus that suggests 
itself, and has been in use from the earliest ages. Experi- 
ence has given directions for its use, avoiding some of the 
grosser causes of error from driftage and other causes. Yet 
its success in immense ocean depths is problematical, and 
a problem decided in the negative by many of the first scien- 
tific authorities at home and abroad. In the mechanical 
improvements of the last half-century substitutes for this 
simple but rather uncertain method began to be devised. It 




brooke's deep sea sounding apparatus. 



A shows the instrument ready for sounding. It is very sim- 
ple, consisting only of a cannon-ball, pierced with an iron rod, 
and held in its place by slings. As the ball goes down swiftly, 
it drives the rod into the bottom like the point of a spear, when 
an opening at the end catches the ooze in its iron lips. The 
same instant (see B) the slings loosen, the ball drops off, and 
the naked rod, C, with its "bite " is drawn up to the surface.. 



56 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

was proposed to ascertain the depth by the amount of pres- 
sure, or by explosions under water, with other equally im- 
practicable plans. At last was noticed the perfect regularity 
of the movements of a spirally-shaped wheel, on being drawn 
through the water. Experiments proved that this regular- 
ity, when unaffected by other causes, could be relied on with 
perfect accuracy, and that an arrangement of cog-wheels 
would register its revolutions with mathematical precision. 
Very soon it came in use as a ship's log. So perfect was 
their precision, that they were even introduced in scientific 
surveys. Base lines, where the nicest accuracy is required, 
were run with them, and we have the highest authority of 
the Royal Navy for believing that they never failed. At 
this point it was proposed to apply them in a perpen- 
dicular as well as in a horizontal motion through the water, 
Massey's apparatus promising to solve those problems of 
submarine geography left unsolved by the old method of 
obtaining depth with a simple line and sinker, and this more 
especially as some causes of error, considerable on the sur- 
face, disappear in the still water below." 

To make our knowledge of the sea complete, one 
thing more was wanting — a method not only of reach- 
ing the bottom, but of laying hold of it, and bringing 
it up to the light of day. This was now to be supplied. 

It is to the inventive genius of a lieutenant of the 
United States navy, Mr. J. M. Brooke, that the world 
owes the means of finding out what is at the bottom 
of the sea. This is by a very simple contrivance, by 
w r hich the heavv weight, used to sink the measuring' 
line, is detached as soon as it strikes bottom, leaving the 



THE DEEP-SEA SOUNDINGS. 57 

line free so that it can be drawn up lightly and quickly 
to the surface without danger of breaking. Below the 
weight, and driven by it into the ooze, is a rod, in 
which is an open valve, that now closes with a spring, 
by which it catches a cupful of the soil, which is thus 
brought up to the surface, to be placed under the 
microscope, and be subjected to the sharp eye of 
science. With this simple instrument the skilful sea- 
man explores the bottom of the ocean by literally 
feeling over it. With a long line he dives to the very 
lowest depths, while the clasp at the end of it is like 
the tip of the elephant's trunk, serving as a delicate 
finger with which he picks up sand and shells that lie 
strewn on the floor of the deep. What important con- 
clusions are derived from this inspection of the bottom 
of the sea, is well stated by Lieutenant Maury in the 
letter already quoted. . 

/in happy concurrence with this, as an additional 
preparation, a partial survey of the Atlantic had been 
made the very year before this enterprise was begun, 
in 1853. Lieutenant Berryman was the first who 
applied this new method of taking deep-sea soundings 
to that part of the Atlantic lying between Newfound- 
land and Ireland, with results most surprising and sat- 
isfactory. But to remove all doubt it seemed desirable 
to have a fresh survey. To obtain this, Mr. Field 
went to Washington and applied to the Government in 
behalf of the Company for a second expedition. 



58 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

The request was granted, and the Arctic, under com- 
mand of the same gallant Lieutenant Berryman, was 
assigned to this service. He sailed from New York 
on the eighteenth of July, 1856, and the very next day 
Mr. Field left on the Baltic for England, to organize 
the Atlantic Telegraph Company. The Arctic pro- 
ceeded to St. John's, and thence with a clear eye and 
a steady hand, this true sailor went " sounding on his 
dim and perilous way" across the deep. In about 
three weeks he made the coast of Ireland, having car- 
ried his survey along the great circle arc. which the 
telegraph was to follow as the nearest path from the 
old world to the new. The result fully confirmed his 
belief of the existence of a great plateau underneath 
the ocean, extending all the way from one hemisphere 
to the other. 

I cannot take l^ave of the name of this gallant 
officer, who rendered such services to science and to 
his country, without a word of tribute to his memory. 
Lieutenant Berry man is in his grave. He died in the 
navy of his country, worn out by his devotion to 
her service. When the great civil war broke out, he 
was placed in a position most painful to a man of large 
heart, who loved at once his country and the state in 
which he was born. He was a Southerner, a native 
of Winchester, Va. 5 and was assigned to duty in the 
South. At the first attack on Southern forts and 
arsenals, he was in command of the Wyandotte, in the 



THE DEEP-SEA SOUNDINGS. 59 

harbor of Pensacola, in Florida. His officers, who 
were nearly all Southerners, were in secret sympathy 
with the rebellion. All the influences around him, 
both on ship and on shore, were such as might have 
seduced a weaker man from his loyalty. But, to his. 
honor, he never hesitated for a moment. He stood 
firm and loyal to his flag. Not knowing whom to 
trust, he had to keep watch day and night against 
surprise and treachery. It was the testimony of Lieu- 
tenant Slemmer, then in command of Fort Pickens, 
that but for the ceaseless exertions of Lieutenant Ber- 
ryman not only the ship but the fort would have 
been lost. But this service to his country cost him 
his life. His constant exertions brought on a brain 
fever, of which he died. His wife, also a native of 
Winchester, when the war came near her early home, 
removed to Baltimore, saying that "she would not 
live under any other flag than that under which her 
husband had lived and died." 

It was to the honor of the American navy, to have 
led the way in these deep-sea soundings. But after 
this second voyage of exploration, Mr. Field applied to 
the British Admiralty, " to make what further sound- 
ings might be necessary between Ireland and New- 
foundland, and to verify those made by Lieutenant 
Berryman." It was in response to this application that 
the Government sent out the following year a vessel to 
make still another survey of the same ocean-path. This 



60 STORY OP THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

was the steamer Cyclops, which was placed under Lieu- 
tenant Commander Joseph Dayman, of the British 
navy, an officer who had been with Captain Sir James 
Ross when he made his deep-sea soundings in the South 
Atlantic in 1840, where he attained a depth of twenty- 
six hundred and sixty -seven fathoms ; and who by his 
intelligence and zeal, was admirably fitted for the work. 
To speak now of this third survey, is anticipating in 
time. But it will serve the purpose of unity and clear- 
ness in the narrative, to include all these deep-sea sound- 
ings in one chapter. He was directed to proceed to the 
harbor of Valentia in Ireland, and thence to follow, as 
nearly as possible, along the arc of a great circle to 
Newfoundland. " The soundings for the first few 
miles from the coast should be frequent, decreasing as 
you draw off shore." 

These orders were thoroughly executed. Every 
pains was taken to make the information obtained 
precise and exact. Whenever a sounding was to be 
taken, the ship was hove to, and the bow kept as nearly 
as possible in the same spot, so that the line might de- 
scend perpendicularly. This was repeated every few 
miles until they had got far out into the Atlantic, 
where the general equality of the depths rendered it 
necessary to cast the line only every twenty or thirty 
miles. Thus the survey was made complete, and the 
results obtained were of the greatest value in determin- 
ing the physical geography of the sea. 



THE DEEP-SEA SOUNDINGS. 61 

The conclusions of Commander Dayman confirmed 
in general those of Lieutenant Berryman, though in 
comparing the charts prepared by the two, we observe 
some differences which ought to be noticed. Both 
agree as to the general character of the bottom of the 
ocean along this latitude — that it is a vast plain, like 
the steppes of Siberia. Yet on the chart of Dayman 
the floor of the sea seems not such a dead level as on 
that of Berryman. (This may be partly owing to a 
difference of route, as Dayman passed a little to the 
north of the track of Berryman.) There are more 
unequal depths, which in the small space of a chart, 
appear like hills and valleys. Yet when we consider 
the wide distances passed over, these inequalities seem 
not greater than the undulations on our Western 
prairies. " This space," says Dayman, " has been 
named by Maury the telegraphic plateau, and although 
by multiplying the soundings upon it, we have depths 
ranging from fourteen hundred and fifty to twenty-four 
hundred fathoms, these are comparatively small ine- 
qualities in its surface, and present no new difficulty to 
the project of laying the cable across the ocean. Their 
importance vanishes when the extent of the space over 
which they are distributed (thirty degrees of longitude) 
is considered." 

According to Berryman and Dayman both, the ocean 
in its deepest part on this plateau, measured but two 
thousand and three or four hundred fathoms, or about 




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THE DEEP-SEA SOUNDINGS. 63 

fourteen thousand feet — a depth of but little over two 
and a half miles. This is not great, compared with 
the enormous depths in other parts of the Atlantic ;* 
j T et that it is something may be realized from the fact 
that if the Peak of Teneriffe were here " cast into 
the sea," it would sink out of sight, island, mountain 
and all, while even the lofty head of Mont Blanc 
would be lifted but a few hundred feet above the 
waves. 

The only exception to this uniform depth, lies about 
two hundred miles off the coast of Ireland, where 
within a space of about a dozen miles, the depth sinks 
from five hundred and fifty to seventeen hundred and 
fifty fathoms! "In li° 48' west," says Dayman, "we 
have five hundred and fifty fathoms rock, and in 15° 6' 
west we have seventeen hundred and fifty fathoms 
ooze. This is the greatest dip in the whole ocean." 

* "The ocean bed of the North Atlantic is a curious study ; in some 
parts furrowed by currents, in others presenting banks, the accumula- 
tions perhaps of the debris of these ocean rivers during countless ages. 
To the west, the Gulf Stream pours along in a bed from one mile Xo a 
mile and a half in depth. To the east of this, and south of the Great 
Banks, is a basin, eight or ten degrees square, where the bottom attains 
a greater depression than perhaps the highest peaks of the Andes or 
Himalayas — six miles of line have failed to reach the bottom ! Taking a 
profile of the Atlantic basin in our own latitude, we find a far greater 
depression than any mountain elevation on our own continent. Four or 
five Alleghanies would have to be piled on each other, and on them added 
Fremont's Peak, before their point would show itself above the surface. 
Between the Azores and the mouth of the Tagus this decreases to about 
three miles. " 



64 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. * 

" In little more than ten miles of distance a change 
of depth occurs, amounting to seventy-two hundred 
feet." This is indeed a tremendous plunge from the 
hard rock into the slime of the sea. 

The same sharp declivity was noticed by Berryman, 
and has been observed in the several attempts to lay' 
the cable. Thus in the second expedition of 1858, as 
the Agamemnon was approaching the coast of Ireland, 
we read in the report of her voyage : " About five 
o'clock in the evening, the steep submarine mountain 
which divides the telegraphic plateau from the Irish 
coast, was reached ; and the sudden shallowing of the 
water had a very marked effect on the cable, causing 
the strain on, and the speed of it, to lessen every min- 
ute. A great deal of slack was paid out to allow for 
inequalities which might exist, though undiscovered by 
the sounding-line." 

This submarine mountain was then regarded as the 
chief point of danger in the whole bed of the Atlantic, 
and as the principal source of anxiety in laying a cable 
across the ocean. Yet, after all, the ascent or descent 
of less than a mile and a half in ten miles, is not an 
impassable grade. More recent soundings reduce this 
still farther. Captain Hoskins, of the Royal Nav\ r , 
afterwards made a more careful survey of this precipi- 
tous sea bottom, and with results much more favorable. 
The side of the mountain, it is now said, is not very 
much steeper than Holborn Hill in London, or Murray 



THE DEEP-SEA SOUNDINGS. 65 

Hill in New York.* But the best answer to fears on 
this point, is the fact that in 1857, 1858, and 1865, the 
cable passed over it without difficulty. In 1857 the 
Niagara was a hundred miles farther to sea, when 
the cable broke. In 1865 the strain was not increased 
more than a hundred pounds. In the final expedition, 
that of 1866, this declivity was passed over without 
difficulty or danger. 

Next to the depth of the ocean, it was important to 
ascertain the nature of its bottom. What was it— a 
vast bed of rock, the iron-bound crust of the globe, 
hardened by internal fires, and which, bending as a 

* The results obtained are thus summed up in the London Times : 
" The dangerous part of this course has hitherto been supposed to 
be the sudden dip or bank which occurs off the west coast of Ireland, 
where the water was supposed to deepen in the course of a few miles 
from about three hundred fathoms to nearly two thousand. Such a rapid 
descent has naturally been regarded with alarm by telegraphic engineers, 
and this alarm has led to a most careful sounding survey of the whole 
supposed bank by Captain Dayman, acting under the instructions of the 
Admiralty. The result of this shows that the supposed precipitous 
bank, or submarine cliff, is a gradual slope of nearly sixty miles. Over 
this long slope the difference between its greatest height and greatest 
depth is only eighty-seven hundred and sixty feet ; so that the average 
incline is, in round numbers, about one hundred and forty-five feet per 
mile. A good gradient on a railway is now generally considered to be 
one in one hundred feet, or about fifty-three in a mile ; so that the in- 
cline on this supposed bank is only about three times that of an ordinary 
railway. In fact, as far as soundings can demonstrate any thing, there 
are few slopes in the bed of the Atlautic as steep as that of Holborn 
Hill. In no part is the bottom rocky, and with the exception of a few 
miles, which are shingly, only ooze, mud, or sand is to be found." 
5 



66 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

vault over the still glowing centre of the earth, bore 
up on its mighty arches the weight of all the oceans ? 
or w as it mere sand like the sea-shore ? or ooze as soft 
as that of a mill-pond ? The pressure of a column of 
water two miles high w r ould be equal to that of four 
hundred atmospheres. Would not this weight alone 
be enough to crush any substance that could reach 
that tremendous depth ? These were questions which 
remained to be answered, but on which depended the 
possibility of laying a cable at the bottom of the At- 
lantic. 

By the ingenious contrivance of Lieutenant Brooke, 
the problem was solved, for we got hold of fragments 
of the under-coating of the sea ; and to our amazement, 
instead of finding the ocean bound round with thick 
ribs of granite, its inner lining was found to be soft as 
a silken vest. The soil brought up from the bottom 
was not even of the hardness of sand or gravel. It 
was mere ooze, like that of our rivers,* and was as soft 
as the moss that clings to old, damp stones on the 
river's brink. At first it was thought by Lieutenant 
Berryman to be common clay, but being carefully pre- 
served, and subjected to a powerful microscope, it was 
found to be composed of shells, too small to be discov- 
ered by the naked eye ! 

This was a revelation of the myriad forms of ani- 
mated existence which fill the sea : a plenitude of life 
that is more wonderful by contrast. As Maury well 



THE DEEP-SEA SOUNDINGS. f>7 

puts it : " The ocean teems with life, we know. Of the 
four elements of the old philosophers — fire, earth, air, 
and water — perhaps the sea most of all abounds with 
living creatures. The space occupied on the surface of 
our planet by the different families of animals and their 
remains are inversely as the size of the individual. 
The smaller the animal, the greater the space occupied 
by his remains. Take the elephant and his remains, or 
a microscopic animal and his, and compare them. The 
contrast, as to space occupied, is as striking as that of 
the coral reef or island with the dimensions of the 
whale. The graveyard that would hold the corallines 
is larger than the graveyard that would hold the ele- 
phants."* 

These little creatures, whose remains were thus 
found at the bottom of the ocean, probably did not 
live there, for there all is dark, and shells, like flowers, 
need the light and warmth of the all-reviving sun. It 
was their sepulchre, but not their clw x elling-place. 
Probably they lived near the surface of the ocean, 
and after their short life, sunk to the tranquil waters 
below. What a work of life and death had been going 
on for ages in the depths of the sea ! Myriads upon 
myriads, ever since the morning of creation, had been 
falling like snow-flakes, till their remains literally cov- 
ered the bottom of the deep. 

Equally significant was the fact that these shells 

* Physical Geography of the Sea. 



68 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

were unbroken. Not only were they there, but pre- 
served in a perfect form. Organisms the most minute 
and delicate, fragile as drooping flowers, had yet sunk 
and slept uninjured. The same power which watches 
over the fall of a sparrow had kept these frail and 
tender things, and after their brief existence, had laid 
them gently on the bosom of the mighty mother for 
their eternal rest. 

The bearing of this discovery on the problem of a 
submarine telegraph was obvious. For it too was to 
lie on the ocean-bed, beside and among these relics 
that had so long been drifting down upon the watery 
plain. And if these tiny shells slept there unharmed, 
surely an iron chord might rest there in safety. There 
were no swift currents down there ; no rushing waves 
agitated that sunless sea. There the waters moved 
not ; and there might rest the great nerve that was to 
pass from continent to continent. And so far as injury 
from the surrounding elements was concerned, there it 
might remain, whispering the thoughts of successive 
generations of men, till the sea should give up its 
dead. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE WORK BEGUN IN ENGLAND, 

Up to this time the Telegraph, which was destined 
to pass the sea, had been purely an American enter- 
prise. It had been begun, and for over two years had 
been carried on, wholly by American capital. " Our 
little company," said Mr. Field ten years after, " raised 
and expended over a million and a quarter of dollars 
before an Englishman paid a single pound sterling." 
Mr. Brett w r as the first one to take a few shares. But 
this was not to the discredit of England, for the Amer- 
ican public had done no better. Not a dollar had been 
raised this side the Atlantic, outside of the little circle 
in which the scheme had its origin. No stock or bonds 
were put upon the market ; no man was asked for a 
subscription. If they wanted money, they drew their 
checks for it. At one time, indeed, tw r o hundred and 
fifty thousand dollars of bonds were issued, but they 
were at once taken wholly by themselves. But, as the 
time was now come when the long-meditated attempt 
was to be made to carry the Telegraph across the 
ocean, it was fitting that Great Britain, whose shores 



70 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

it was to touch, should join in the work. Accordingly, 
in the summer of 1856, after finishing all that he could 
do in America, Mr. Field sailed with his family for 
England. The very day before he embarked, he had 
the pleasure to see his friend, Lieutenant Berryman, 
off on his second voyage to make soundings across 
the Atlantic. 

In London he sought at once Mr. Brett, with whom 
in his two former visits to England he had already 
discussed his project, and found in him a hearty 
cooperator. As we go on with our story, it is a mel- 
ancholy satisfaction to refer to one and another worker 
in this enterprise, who lived not to see its last and 
greatest triumph. Mr. Brett, like Berryman, is dead. 
But he did not go to his grave till after a life of useful- 
ness and honor. He was one of the men of the new 
era — of the school of Stephenson and Brunei — who 
believed in the marvellous achievements yet to be 
wrought by human invention, turning to the service of 
man the wonders of scientific discovery. He was one 
of the first to see the boundless possibilities of the 
telegraph, and to believe that what had passed over 
the land might pass under the sea. He was the first 
to lay a cable across the British Channel, and thus to 
bring into instantaneous communication the two great 
capitals of Europe — an achievement which, though 
small compared with what has since been done, w r as 
then so marvellous, that the intelligence of its success 



THE WORK BEGUN IN ENGLAND. 71 

was received with surprise and incredulity. Many 
could not and would not believe it. Even after mes- 
sages were received in London from Paris, there were 
those who declared that it was an imposition on the 
public, with as much proud scorn as some a few years 
later scouted the very idea that a message had ever 
passed over the Atlantic Telegraph ! 

This friendship of Mr. Brett — both to the enterprise 
and to Mr. Field personally — remained to the last. In 
every voyage to England the latter found — however 
others doubted or despaired — that Mr. Brett was al- 
ways the same — full of hope and confidence. In 1864, 
when they met in London, he was unshaken in faith, 
and urgent to have the great enterprise renewed. The 
triumph was not far off, but he was not to live to see it. 
But, though he passed away before the final victory, 
he did his part toward bringing it on, and: no his- 
tory of this great enterprise can overlook his eminent 
services. 

To Mr. Brett, therefore, Mr. Field went first to con- 
sult in regard to his project of a telegraph across 
the ocean. This was a part of the design embraced in 
the original organization of the New York, Newfound- 
land, and London Telegraph Company ; and when Mr. 
Field went to England, he was empowered to receive 
subscriptions to that Company, so as to enlarge its 
capital, and thus include in one corporation the whole 
line from New York to London ; or to organize a new 



U STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

company, which should lay a cable across the Atlantic, 
and there join the Newfoundland line. 

But before an enterprise so vast and so new could, be 
commended to the commercial public of Great Britain, 
there were many details to be settled. The mechanical 
and scientific problems already referred to, whether a 
cable could be laid across the ocean ; and if so, whether 
it could be worked, were to be considered anew. The 
opinions of Lieutenant Maury and of Professor Morse 
were published in England, and arrested the attention 
of scientific men. But John Bull is slow of belief, and 
asked for more evidence. The thing was too vast to 
be undertaken rashly. As yet there was no experience 
to decide the possibility of a telegraph across the 
ocean. The longest line which had been laid was 
three hundred miles. This caution, which is a national 
trait of Englishmen, will not be regarded as a fault by 
those who consider that in proportion as they are slow 
to embark in any new enterprise, are they resolute and 
determined in carrving it out. 

To resolve these difficult problems, Mr. Field sought 
counsel of the highest engineering authorities of Great 
Britain, and of her most eminent scientific men. To 
their honor, all showed the deepest interest in the 
project, and gave it freely the benefit of their knowl- 
edge. 

First, as to the possibility of laying a cable in the 
deep sea, Mr. Field had witnessed one attempt of the 



THE WORK BEGUN IN ENGLAND. 73 

kind — that in the Gulf of St. Lawrence the year before 
— an attempt which had failed. His experience, there- 
fore, w r as not encouraging. If they found so much 
difficulty in laying a cable seventy miles long, how 
could they hope to lay one of two thousand miles across 
the stormy Atlantic ? 

This was a question for the engineers. To solve the 
problem, required experiments almost without number. 
It was now that the most important services w r ere ren- 
dered by Glass, Elliot & Co., of London, a firm which 
had begun within a few years the manufacture of sea- 
cables, and was to write its name in all the waters of 
the world. Aided by the skill of their admirable 
engineer, Mr. Canning, they now manufactured cables 
almost without end, applying to them every possible 
test. At the same time, Mr. Field took counsel of 
Robert Stephenson and George Parker Bidder, both of 
whom manifested a deep interest in the success of the 
enterprise. 

Not less cordial w T as Mr. Brunei, who made many 
suggestions in regard to the form of the cable, and the 
manner in which it should be laid. He was then 
building the Great Eastern ; and one day he took Mr. 
Field down to Blackwall to see it, and, pointing to the 
monstrous hull which was rising on the banks of the 
Thames, said : " There is the ship to lay the Atlantic 
cable! " Little did he think that ten years after, that 
ship would be employed in this service ; and in this 



74 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

final victory over the sea, would redeem all the misfor- 
tunes of her earlier career. 

Among the difficulties to be encountered, was that of 
finding a perfect insulator. Without insulation, tele- 
graphic communication by electricity is impossible. 
On land, where wires are carried on the tops of poles, 
the air itself is a sufficient insulator. A few glass 
rings at the points where the wire passes through the 
iron staples by which it is supported, and the insulation 
is complete. But in the sea the electricity would be 
instantly dissipated, unless some material could be 
found which should insulate a conductor sunk in water, 
as completely as if it were raised in air. But what 
could thus inclose the lightning, and keep it fast while 
flying from one continent to the other ? 

Here again it seemed as if Divine wisdom had antici- 
pated the coming of this great enterprise, and provided 
in the realm of nature every material needed for its 
success. It was at least a happy coincidence that only 
a few years before there had been found, in the forests 
of the Malayan archipelago, a substance till then un- 
known to the world, but which answered completely 
this new demand. This was gutta-percha, which is 
impenetrable by water, and at the same time a bad 
conductor of electricity ; so that it forms at once a 
perfect protection and insulation to a telegraph passing 
through the sea. In the experiments that w r ere made 
to test the value of this material in the grander use to 



THE WORK BEGUN IN ENGLAND. 75 

which it was to be applied, no man rendered greater 
service than Mr. Samuel Statham, of the London Gutta- 
percha Works — a name to be gratefully remembered 
in the early history of the Atlantic Telegraph. 

The mechanical difficulties removed, and the insula- 
tion provided, there remained yet the great scientific 
problem : Could a message be sent two thousand miles 
under the Atlantic % The ingenuity of man might 
devise some method of laying a cable across the sea, 
but of what use were it, if the electric current should 
shrink from the dark abyss ? 

It was in prosecuting inquiries to resolve this prob- 
lem, that Mr. Field became acquainted with two gen- 
tlemen who were to be soon after associated with him 
in the organization of the Atlantic Telegraph Company. 
These were Mr. Charles T. Bright, afterward knighted 
for his part in laying the Atlantic cable in 1858, and 
Dr. Edward O. Whitehouse, both well known in Eng- 
land, the former as an engineer, and the latter for his 
experiments in electro-magnetism, as applied to the 
business of telegraphing. He had invented an instru- 
ment by which to ascertain and register the velocity of 
electric currents through submarine cables. . Both these 
gentlemen were full of the ardor of science, and en- 
tered on this new project with the zeal which the 
prospect of so great a triumph might inspire. With 
them was now to be associated our distinguished coun- 
tryman, Professor Morse. Fortunately he was at this 



76 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

time in London, and gave his invaluable aid to the 
experiments which were made to determine the possi- 
bility of telegraphic communication at great distances 
under the sea. The result of his experiments he com- 
municates in a letter to Mr. Field : 

''London, Five o'clock a. m., ) 
"October 3, 1856. ) 

"My dear Sir: As the electrician of the New York, 
Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company, it is with 
the highest gratification that I have to apprise you of the 
result of our experiments of this morning upon a single 
continuous conductor of more than two thousand miles in 
extent, a distance you will perceive sufficient to cross the 
Atlantic Ocean, from Newfoundland to Ireland. 

"The admirable arrangements made at the Magnetic Tel- 
egraph Office in Old Broad street, for connecting ten subter- 
ranean gutta-percha insulated conductors, of over two hun- 
dred miles each, so as to give one continuous length of more 
than two thousand miles during the hours of the night, when 
the telegraph is not commercially employed, furnished us 
the means of conclusively settling, by actual experiment, 
the question of the practicability as well as the practicality* 
of telegraphing through our proposed Atlantic cable. 

" This result had been thrown into some doubt by the dis- 

* Professor Morse was fond of the distinction between the words 
practical and practicable. A thing might be practicable, that is, possible 
of accomplishment, when it was not a practical enterprise, that is, one 
which could be worked to advantage. He here argues that the Atlantic 
Telegraph is both practicable, (or possible,) and at the same time a wise, 
practical undertaking. 



THE WORK BEGUN IN ENGLAND. ?? 

covery, more than two years since, of certain phenomena 
upon subterranean and submarine conductors, and had at- 
tracted the attention of electricians, particularly of that most 
eminent philosopher, Professor Faraday, and that clear- 
sighted investigator of electrical phenomena, Dr. White- 
house ; and one of these phenomena, to wit, the perceptible 
retardation of the electric current, threatened to perplex our 
operations, and required careful investigation before we 
could pronounce with certainty the commercial practicabil- 
ity of the Ocean Telegraph. 

"I am most happy to inform you that, as a crowning 
result of a long series of experimental investigation and 
inductive reasoning upon this subject, the experiments under 
the direction of Dr. Whitehouse and Mr. Bright, which I 
witnessed this morning — in which the induction coils and 
receiving magnets, as modified by these gentlemen, were 
made to actuate one of my recording instruments — have 
most satisfactorily resolved all doubts of the practicability as 
well as practicality of operating the telegraph from New- 
foundland to Ireland. 

"Although we telegraphed signals at the rate of two 
hundred and ten, two hundred and forty-one, and, according 
to the count at one time, even of two hundred and seventy 
per minute upon my telegraphic register, (which speed, you 
will perceive, is at a rate commercially advantageous,) these 
results were accomplished notwithstanding many disadvan- 
tages in our arrangements of a temporary and local charac- 
ter — disadvantages which will not occur in the use of our 
submarine cable. 

"Having passed the whole night with my active and 
agreeable collaborators, Dr. Whitehouse and Mr. Bright, 
without sleep, you will excuse the hurried and brief charac- 



78 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

ter of this note, which I could not refrain from sending* you, 
since our experiments this morning* settle the scientific and 
commercial points of our enterprise satisfactorily. 
' ' With respect and esteem, your obedient servant, 

" Samuel F. B. Morse." 



A week later, he wrote again, confirming his former 
impressions, thus : 

" London, October 10, 1856. 

' ' My dear Sir : After having given the deepest consid- 
eration to the subject of our successful experiments the 
other night, when we signalled clearly and rapidly through 
an unbroken circuit of subterranean conducting wire, over 
two thousand miles in length, I sit down to give you the 
result of my reflections and calculations. 

' ' There can be no question but that, with a cable contain- 
ing a single conducting wire, of a size not exceeding that 
through which we worked, and with equal insulation, it 
would be easy to telegraph from Ireland to Newfoundland 
at a speed of at least from eight to ten words per minute ; 
nay, more: the varying rates of speed at which we worked, 
depending as they did upon differences in the arrangement 
of the apparatus employed, do of themselves prove that even 
a higher rate than this is attainable. Take it, however, at 
ten words in the minute, and allowing ten words for name 
and address, we can safely calculate upon the transmission 
of a twenty- word message in three minutes ; 

" Twenty such messages in the hour; 

tk Four hundred and eighty in the twenty -four hours, or 
fourteen thousand four hundred words per day. 



THE WORK BEGUN IN ENGLAND. 79 

' • Such are the capabilities of a single wire cable fairly and 
moderately computed. 

" It is, however, evident to me, that by improvements in the 
arrangement of the signals themselves, aided by the adoption 
of a code or system constructed upon the principles of the 
best nautical code, as suggested by Dr. Whitehouse, we may 
at least double the speed in the transmission of our messages. 

" As to the structure of the cable itself, the last specimen 
which I examined with you seemed to combine so admirably 
the necessary qualities . of strength, flexibility, and light- 
ness, with perfect insulation, that I can no longer have any 
misgivings about the ease and safety with which it will be 
submerged. 

' ' In one word, the doubts are resolved, the difficulties 
overcome, success is within our reach, and the great feat of 
the century must shortly be accomplished. 

" I would urge you, if the manufacture can be completed 
within the time, (and all things are possible now,) to press 
forward the good work, and not to lose the chance of laying 
it during the ensuing summer. 

"Before the close of the present month, I hope to be 
again landed safely on the other side of the water, and I 
full well know, that on all hands the inquiries of most 
interest with which I shall be met, will be about the Ocean 
Telegraph. 

' ' Much as I have enjoyed my European trip this year, it 
would have enhanced the gratification which I have de- 
rived from it more than I can describe to you, if on my 
return to America, I could be the first bearer to my friends 
of the welcome intelligence that the great work had been 
begun, by the commencement of the manufacture of the 
cable to connect Ireland with the line of the New York, 



80 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company, now so 
successfully completed to St. John's. 
" Respectfully, your obedient servant, 

" Samuel F. B. Morse." 

These experiments and others removed the doubts 
of scientific men. Professor Faraday, in spite of the 
law of the retardation of electricity on long circuits, 
which it was said he had discovered, and which would 
render it impossible to work a line of such length as 
from Ireland to Newfoundland, now declared his full 
conviction that it w r as within the bounds of possibility. 
The passage of electricity might not be absolutely in- 
stantaneous, or have the swiftness of the solar beam, 
yet it w r ould be rapid enough for all practical pur- 
poses. "When Mr. Field asked him how long it would 
take for the electricity to pass from London to New 
York, he answered : " Possibly one second ! " 

Thus fortified by the highest scientific and engineer- 
ing authorities, the projectors of an ocean telegraph 
were now ready to bring it before the British public, 
and to see what support could be found from the 
English Government and the English people. 

Mr. Field first addressed himself to the Government. 
Without w T aiting for the Company to be fully organ 
ized, with true American eagerness and impatience, he 
wrote a letter to the Admiralty asking for a fresh sur- 
vey of the route to be traversed, and for the aid of 
Government ships to lay the cable. He also addressed 



THE WORK BEGUN IN ENGLAND. 81 

a letter to Lord Clarendon, stating the large design 
which the) 7 had conceived, and asking for it the aid 
which was due to what concerned the honor and in- 
terest of England. The reply was prompt and court- 
eous, inviting him to an interview for the purpose of 
a fuller explanation. Accordingly, Mr. Field, with 
Professor Morse, called upon him at the Foreign 
Office, and spent an hour in conversation on the 
proposed undertaking. Lord Clarendon showed great 
interest, and made many inquiries. He was a little 
startled at the magnitude of the scheme, and the con- 
fident tone of the projectors, and asked pleasantly : 
" But, suppose you donH succeed ? Suppose you make 
the attempt and- fail — your cable is lost in the sea — 
then what will you do ? " (i Charge it to profit and 
loss, and go to work to lay another," was the quick 
answer of Mr. Field, which amused him as a truly 
American reply. In conclusion, he desired him to put 
his request in writing, and, without committing the 
Government, encouraged him to hope that Britain 
would do all that might justly be expected in aid of 
this great international work. How nobly this prom- 
ise was kept, time will show. 

While engaged in these negotiations, Mr. Field took 
his family to Paris, and there met with a great loss in 
the sudden death of a favorite sister, who had accom- 
panied them abroad. Full of the sorrow of this event, 
and unfitted for business of any kind, he returned to 




82 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

London to find an invitation to go into the country 
and spend a few days with Mr. James Wilson, then 
Secretary to the Treasury, a man of great influence in 
the Government, at his residence near Bath ; there to 
discuss quietly and at length the proposed aid to the 
Atlantic Telegraph. Though he had but little spirit to 
go among strangers, he felt it his duty not to miss an 
opportunity to advance the cause he had so much at 
heart. The result of this visit was the following letter, 
received a few days later : 

"Treasury Chambers, Nov. 20, 1856. 

u SlR : Having" laid before the Lords Commissioners of 
her Majesty's Treasury your letter of the 13th ultimo, ad- 
dressed to the Earl of Clarendon, requesting*, on behalf of 
the New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Com- 
pany, certain privileges and protection in regard to the line 
of telegraph which it is proposed to establish between New- 
foundland and Ireland, I am directed by their lordships to 
acquaint you that they are prepared to enter into a contract 
with the said Telegraph Company, based upon the following 
conditions, namely : 

" 1. It is understood that the capital required to lay down 
the line will be three hundred and fifty thousand pounds. 

' ' 2. Her Majesty's Government engage to furnish the aid 
of ships to take what soundings may still be considered need- 
ful, or to verify those already taken, and favorably to con- 
sider any request that may be made to furnish aid by their 
vessels in laying down the cable. 

' ' 3. The British Government, from the time of the com- 
pletion of the line, and so long as it shall continue in work- 



THE WORK BEGUN IN ENGLAND. 83 

ing order, undertakes to pay at the rate of fourteen thousand 
pounds a year, being at the rate of four per cent, on the 
assumed capital, as a fixed remuneration for the work done 
on behalf of the Government, in the conveyance outward 
and homeward of their messages. This payment to continue 
until the net profits of the Company are equal to a dividend 
of six per cent., when the payment shall be reduced to ten 
thousand pounds a year, for a period of twenty -five years. 

"It is, however, understood that if the Government mes- 
sages in any year shall, at the usual tariff-rate charged to 
the public, amount to a larger sum, such additional payment 
shall be made as is equivalent thereto. 

' ' 4. That the British Government shall have a priority in 
the conveyance of their messages over all others, subject to 
the exception only of the Government of the United States, 
in the event of their entering into an arrangement with the 
Telegraph Company similar in principle to that of the Brit- 
ish Government, in which case the messages of the two Gov- 
ernments shall have priority in the order in which they 
arrive at the stations. 

"5. That the tariff of charges shall be fixed with the con- 
sent of the Treasury, and shall not be increased, without 
such consent being obtained, as long as this contract lasts. 

"I am, sir, your obedient servant, 

1 ' James Wilson. 

"Cyrus W. Field, Esq., 37 Jermyn street." 

With this encouragement and promise of aid, the 
projectors of a telegraph across the ocean now went 
forward to organize a company to carry out their 
design. Mr. Field, on arriving in England, had en- 
tered into an agreement with Mr. Brett to join their 



84 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

efforts for this purpose. With them were afterward 
united two others — Sir Charles Bright, as engineer, 
and Dr. Whitehouse, as electrician. These four gen- 
tlemen agreed to form a new company, to be called 
The Atlantic Telegraph Company, the object of which 
should be " to continue the existing line of the Xew 
York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Com- 
pany to Ireland, by making or causing to be made a 
submarine telegraph cable for the Atlantic." 

As they were now ready to introduce the enterprise 
to the British public, Mr. Field issued a circular in 
the name of the Newfoundland Company, and as its 
Vice-President, setting forth the great importance of 
telegraphic communication betw r een the two hemi- 
spheres. 

The next step was to raise the capital. After the 
most careful estimates, it was thought that a cable 
could be made and laid across the Atlantic for 
£350,000. This was a large sum to ask from a 
public slow to move, and that lends a dull ear to all 
new schemes. But armed with facts and figures, with 
maps and estimates, with the opinions of engineers 
and scientific men, they went to work, not only in 
London, but in other parts of the kingdom. Mr. Field, 
in company with Mr. Brett, made a visit to Liverpool 
and Manchester, to address their Chambers of Com- 
merce. I have now before me the papers of those 
cities, with reports of the meetings held and the 



THE WORK BEGUN IN ENGLAND. 85 

speeches made, which show the vigor with which they 
pushed their enterprise. This energy was rewarded 
with success. The result justified their confidence. 
In a few weeks the whole capital was subscribed. It 
had been divided into three hundred and fifty shares 
of a thousand pounds each. Of these, a hundred and 
one were taken in London, eighty-six in Liverpool, 
thirty-seven in Glasgow, twenty-eight in Manchester, 
and a few in other parts of England. The grandeur 
of the design attracted public attention, and some sub- 
scribed solely from a noble wish to take part in such a 
work. Among these were Mr. Thackeray and Lady 
Byron. Mr. Field subscribed £100,000, and Mr. Brett 
£25,000. But when the books were closed, it was 
found that they had more money subscribed than 
they required, so that in the final division of shares, 
there were allotted to Mr. Field eighty-eight, and to 
Mr. Brett twelve. Mr. Field's interest was thus one- 
fourth of the whole capital of the Company. 

In taking so large a share, it was not his intention 
to carry this heavy load alone. It was too large a 
proportion for one man. But he took it for his coun- 
trymen. He thought one fourth of the stock should 
be held in this country, and did not doubt, from the 
eagerness with which three fourths had been taken in 
England, that the remainder w^ould be at once sub- 
scribed in America. Had he been able, on his return, 
to attend to his own interests in the matter, this 



86 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

expectation might have been realized ; but, as we shall 
see, hardly did he set foot in New York, before he was 
obliged to hurry off to Newfoundland on the business 
of the Company, and when he returned the interest 
had subsided, so that it required very great exertions, 
continued through many months, to dispose of twenty- 
seven shares. Thus he was by far the largest stock- 
holder in England or America — his interest being over 
seven times that of Mr. Brett, who was the largest 
next to himself — and being more than double the 
amount held by all the other American shareholders 
put together. This was at least giving substantial 
proof of his own faith in the undertaking. 

But some may imagine that after all this burden was 
not so great as it seemed. In many stock companies 
the custom obtains of assigning to the projectors a 
certain portion of the stock as a bonus for getting up 
the company, which amount appears among the sub- 
scriptions to swell the capital. It is indeed subscribed, 
but not "paid. So some have asked whether this large 
subscription of Mr. Field was not in part at least 
merely nominal? To this we answer, that a considera- 
tion was granted to Mr. Field and his associates for 
their services in getting up the Company, and for their 
exclusive rights, but this was a contingent interest in 
the profits of the enterprise, to be allowed only after the 
cable was laid. So that the whole amount here sub- 
scribed was a bona-fide subscription, and paid in solid 



THE WORK BEGUN IN ENGLAND. 87 

English gold. We have now before us the receipts of 
the bankers of the Company for the whole amount, 
eighty-eight thousand pounds sterling. 

The capital being thus raised, it only remained to 
complete the organization of the Company by the 
choice of a Board of Directors, and to make a contract 
for the cable. The Company was organized in De- 
cember, 1856, by the choice of Directors chiefly from 
the leading bankers and merchants of London and 
Liverpool. The list included such honored names as 
Samuel Gurney, T. H. Brooking, John W. Brett, and 
T. A. Hankey, of London ; Sir William Brown, Henry 
Harrison, Edward Johnston, Robert Crosbie, George 
Maxwell, and C. W. H. Pickering, of Liverpool ; John 
Pender and James Dugdale, of Manchester ; and Pro- 
fessor William Thomson, LL.D., of Glasgow." With 
these English Directors were two of our countrymen, 
Mr. George Peabody and Mr. C. M. Lampson, who, 
residing abroad for more than a third of a century, did 
much in the commercial capital of the world to support 
the honor of the American name. Mr. Peabody's firm 
subscribed £10,000, and Mr.. Lampson £2,000. The 
latter gave more time than any other Director in Lon- 
don, except Mr. Brooking, the second Vice-Chairman, 
who, however, retired from the Company after the 
first failure in 1858, when Mr. Lampson was chosen to 
fill his place. The whole Board was full of zeal and 
energy. All gave their services without compensation. 



88 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

It was the good fortune of the Company to have, 
from the beginning, in the important position of Secre- 
tary, a gentleman admirably qualified for the post. 
This was Mr. George Saward — a name familiar to all 
who have followed the fortunes of the telegraph, in 
England or America, since he has been the organ of 
communication with the press and the public ; and 
with whom none ever had occasion to transact busi- 
ness without recognizing his intelligence and courtesy. 

The Company being thus in working order, pro- 
ceeded to make a contract for the manufacture of a 
cable to be laid across the Atlantic. For many months 
the proper form and size of the cable had been the 
subject of constant experiments. The conditions were : 
to combine the greatest degree of strength with light- 
ness and flexibility. It must be strong, or it would 
snap in the process of laying. Yet it would not do to 
have it too large, for it would be unmanageable. Mr. 
Brett had alread\ r lost a cable in the Mediterranean 
chiefly from its bulk. Its size and stiffness made it 
hard to unwind it, while its enormous weight, when 
once it broke loose, caused it to run out with fearful 
velocity, till it was soon lost in the sea. It was only 
the year before, in September, 1855, that this accident 
had occurred in laying the cable from Sardinia to Al- 
geria. All was going on well, until suddenly, "about 
two miles, weighing sixteen tons, flew out with the 
greatest violence in four or five minutes, flying round 



THE WORK BEGUN IN ENGLAND. 89 

even when the drums were brought to a dead stop, 
creating the greatest alarm for the safety of the men 
in the hold and for the vessel." This was partly owing 
to the character of the submarine surface over which 
they were passing. The bottom of the Mediterranean 
is volcanic, and is broken up into mountains and val- 
leys. The cable, doubtless, had just passed over some 
Alpine height, and was descending into some fearful 
depth below; but chiefly it was owing to the great 
size and bulk of the cable. This was a warning to the 
Atlantic Company. The point to be aimed at was to 
combine the flexibility of a common ship's rope with 
the tenacity of iron. These conditions were thought 
to be united in the form that was adopted.* A con- 

* On his return to America, many inquiries were addressed to Mr. 
Field in regard to the form and structure of the cable, in answer to 
which he wrote a letter of explanation in which he said : 

" No particular connected with this great project has been the subject 
of so much comment through the press as the form and structure of the 
telegraph cable. It may be well believed that the Directors have not 
decided upon a matter so all-important to success, without availing 
themselves of the most eminent talent and experience which could be 
commanded. The practical history of submarine telegraphs dates from 
the successful submersion of the cable between Dover and Calais in 
1851, and advantage has been taken of whatever instruction this history 
could furnish or suggest. Of the submarine cables heretofore laid down, 
without enumerating others, the one between Dover and Calais weighs 
six tons to the mile ; that between Spezzia and Corsica, eight tons to the 
mile ; that laid from Varna to Balaklava, and used during the war in the 
Crimea, less than three hundred pounds to the mile ; while the weight 
of the cable for the Atlantic Telegraph is between nineteen hundred 
pounds and one ton to the mile. This cable, to use the words of Dr. 



90 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

tract was at once made for the manufacture of the 
cable, one half being given to Messrs. Glass, Elliot & 
Co., of London, and the other to Messrs. E. S. Newall 
& Co., of Liverpool. The whole was to be completed 
by the first of June, ready to be submerged in the sea. 
The company was organized on the ninth of December, 
and the very next day Mr. Field sailed for America, 
reaching New York on the twenty-fifth of December, 
after an absence of more than five months. 

Whitehouse, 'is the result of many months thought, experiment, and 
trial. Hundreds of specimens have been made, comprising every variety 
of form, size, and structure, and most severely tested as to their powers 
and capabilities ; and the result has been the adoption of this, which we 
know to possess all the properties required, and in a far higher degree 
than any cable that has yet been laid. Its flexibility is such as to make 
it as manageable as a small line, and its strength such that it will bear, 
in water, over six miles of its own weight suspended vertically.' The 
conducting medium consists not of one single straight copper-wire, 
but of seven wires of copper of the best quality, twisted round each 
other spirally, and capable of undergoing great tension without injury. 
This conductor is then enveloped in three separate coverings of gutta- 
percha, of the best quality, forming the core of the cable, round which 
tarred hemp is wrapped, and over this, the outside covering, consisting 
of eighteen strands of the best quality of iron-wire ; each strand com- 
posed of seven distinct wires, twisted spirally, in the most approved 
manner, by machinery specially adapted to the purpose. The attempt 
to insulate more than one conducting-wire or medium would not only 
have increased the chances of failure of all of them, but would have 
necessitated the adoption of a proportionably heavier and more cum- 
brous cable. The tensile power of the outer or wire covering of the 
cable, being veiy much less than that of the conductor within it, the 
latter is protected from any such strain as can possibly rupture it or en- 
danger its insulation without an entire fracture of the cable." 



CHAPTER VII. 

SEEKING AID FROM CONGRESS. 

When Mr. Field reached home from abroad, he 
hoped for a brief respite. He had had a pretty hard 
campaign during the summer and autumn in England, 
and needed at least a few weeks of rest ; but that was 
denied him. He landed in New York on Christmas 
Day, and was not allowed even to spend the New 
Year with his family. There were interests of the 
Company in Newfoundland which required immediate 
attention, and it was important that one of the Direct- 
ors should go there without delay. As usual, it de- 
volved upon him. He left at once for Boston, where 
he took the steamer to Halifax, and thence to St. 
John's. Such a voyage may be very agreeable in 
summer, but in mid-winter it is not a pleasant thing to 
face the storms of those northern latitudes. The pas- 
sage was unusually tempestuous. At St. John's he 
broke down, and was put under the care of a physician. 
But he did not stop to think of himself. The work for 
which he came was done; and though the physician 
warned him that it was a great risk to leave his bed, 
he took the steamer on her return, and was again in 



92 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

New York after a month's absence — a month of hard- 
ship, of exposure, and of suffering, such as he had long 
occasion to remember. 

The mention of this voyage came up a year after- 
ward at a meeting of the Atlantic Telegraph Company 
in London, when a resolution was offered, tendering 
Mr. Field a vote of thanks for " the great services he 
had rendered to the Company by his untiring zeal, 
energy, and devotion." Mr. Brooking, the Vice- 
Chairman, had spent a large part of his life in New- 
foundland, and knew the dangers of that inhospitable 
coast, and in seconding the resolution he said : 

"It is now about a year and a half ago since I had the 
pleasure of making the acquaintance of my friend Mr. 
Field. It was he who initiated me into this Company, and 
induced me to take an interest in it from its earliest stage. 
From that period to the present I have observed in Mr. 
Field the most determined perseverance, and the exercise of 
great talent, extraordinary assiduity and diligence, coupled 
with an amount of fortitude w r hich has seldom been 
equalled. I have known him cross the Atlantic in the 
depth of winter, and, within twenty-four hours after his 
arrival in New York, having ascertained that his presence 
was necessary in a distant British colony, he has not hesi- 
tated at once to direct his course thitherward. That colony 
is one with which I am intimately acquainted, having re- 
sided in it for upward of twenty years, and am enabled to 
speak of the hazards and danger which attend a voyage to it 
in winter. Mr. Field no sooner arrived at New York, in the 
latter part of December, than he got aboard a steamer for 



SEEKING AID FROM CONGRESS. 93 

Halifax, and proceeded to St. John's, Newfoundland. In 
three weeks he accomplished there a very great object for 
this Company. He procured the passage of an Act of the 
Legislature which has given to our Company the right of 
establishing a footing on those shores. [The rights before 
conferred, it would seem, applied only to the Newfoundland 
Company.] That is only one of the acts which he has per- 
formed with a desire to promote the interests of this great 
enterprise." 

The very next day after his return from Newfound- 
land, Mr. Field was called to Washington, to seek the 
aid of his own Government to the Atlantic Telegraph. 
The English Government had proffered the most gen- 
erous aid, both in ships to lay the cable, and in an 
annual subsidy of £14,000. It was on every account 
desirable that this should be met by corresponding 
liberality on the part of the American Government. 
Before he left England, he had sent home the letter 
received from the Lords Commissioners of the Treas- 
ury ; and thereupon the Directors of the New York, 
Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company had 
inclosed a copy to the President, with a letter asking 
for the same aid in ships, and in an annual sum of 
$70,000, [equivalent to £14,000,] to be paid for the 
government messages, the latter to be conditioned on 
the success of the telegraph, and to be continued only 
so long as it was in full operation. They urged with 
reason that the English Government had acted with 
great liberality — not only toward the enterprise, but 



94 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

toward our own Government. Although both ends 
of the line were in the British possessions, it had 
claimed no exclusive privileges, but had stipulated for 
perfect equality between the United States and Great 
Britain. The agreement expressly provided " that the 
British Government shall have a priority in the con- 
veyance of their messages over all others, subject to the 
exception only of the Government of the Ignited States, 
in the event of their entering into an arrangement 
with the Telegraph Company similar in principle to 
that of the British Government, in which case the 
messages of the two governments shall have priority 
in the order in which they arrive at the stations." 

The letter to the President called attention to this 
generous offer — an offer which it was manifestly to 
the advantage of our Government to accept — and 
added : " The Company will enter into a contract with 
the Government of the United States on the same 
terms and conditions as it has made with the British 
Government." They asked only for the same recog- 
nition and aid w T hich they had received in England. 
This surely was not a very bold request. It was 
natural that American citizens should think that in a 
work begun by Americans, and of which, if success- 
ful, their country w^ould reap largely the honor and 
the advantage, they might expect the aid from their 
own Government which they had already received 
from a foreign power. It w 7 as, therefore, not with- 



SEEKING AID FROM CONGRESS. 95 

out a mixture of surprise and mortification that they 
learned that the proposal in Congress had provoked a 
violent opposition, and that the bill was likely to be 
defeated. Such was the attitude of affairs when Mr. 
Field returned from Newfoundland, and which led 
him to hasten to Washington. 

He now found that it was much easier to deal with 
the English than with the American Government. 
"Whatever may be said of the respective methods of 
administration, it must be confessed that the forms 
of English procedure furnish greater facility in the 
despatch of business. A contract can be made by the 
Lords of the Treasury without waiting the action of 
Parliament. The proposal is referred to two or three 
intelligent officers of the Government — perhaps even 
to a single individual — on whose report it takes action 
without further delay. Thus it is probable that the 
action of the British Government was decided wholly 
by the recommendation of Mr. Wilson, formed after 
the visit of Mr. Field. 

But in our country we do things differently. Here 
it would be considered a stretch of power for any 
administration to enter into a contract with a private 
companj 7 — a contract binding the Government for a 
period of twenty-five years, and involving an annual 
appropriation of money — without the action of Con^ 
gress. This is a safeguard against reckless and extrav- 
agant expenditure, but, as one of the penalties we 



96 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

pay for our more popular form of government, in 
which every thing has to be referred to the people, it 
involves delay, and sometimes the defeat of wise and 
important public measures. 

Besides — shall we confess it to our shame — another 
secret influence often appears in American legislation, 
which has defeated many an act demanded by the 
public good— the influence of the Lobby! This now 
began to show itself in opposition. It had been 
whispered in "Washington that the gentlemen in New 
York who were at the head of this enterprise were 
very rich ; and a measure coming from such a source 
surely ought to be made to pay tribute before it was 
allowed to pass. This was a new experience, f Those 
few weeks in Washington were worse than being 
among the icebergs off the coast of Newfoundland. 
The Atlantic Cable has had many a kink since, but 
never did it seem to be entangled in such a hopeless 
twist as when it got among the politicians. 

But it would be very unjust to suppose that there 
were no better influences in our Halls of Congress. 
There were then — as there have always been in our 
history — some men of large wisdom and of a noble 
patriotic pride, who in such a measure thought only 
of the good of their country and of the triumph of 
science and of civilization. 

Two years after — in August, 1858 — when the At- 
lantic Telegraph proved at last a reality, and the 



SEEKING AID FROM CONGRESS. 97 

New World was full of its fame, Mr. Seward, in a 
speech at Auburn, thus referred to the ordeal it had 
to pass through in Congress : 

" The two great countries of which I have spoken, [Eng- 
land and America,] are now ringing with the praises of 
Cyrus W. Field, who chiefly has brought this great enter- 
prise to its glorious and beneficent consummation. You 
have never heard his story ; let me give you a few points in 
it, as a lesson that there is no condition of life in which a 
man, endowed with native genius, a benevolent spirit, and a 
courageous patience, may not become a benefactor of nations 
and of mankind." 

After speaking of the efforts by which this JS~ew 
York merchant " brought into being* an association 
of Americans and Englishmen, which contributed 
from surplus wealth the capital necessary as a basis 
for the enterprise " ; he adds : 

44 It remained to engage the consent and the activity of 
the Governments of Great Britain and the United States. 
That was all that remained. Such consent and activity on 
the part of some one great nation of Europe was all that 
remained needful for Columbus when he stood ready to 
bring a new continent forward as a theatre of the world's 
civilization. But in each case that effort was the most diffi- 
cult of all. Cyrus W. Field, by assiduity and patience, 
first secured consent and conditional engagement on the 
part of Great Britain, and then, less than two years ago, he 
repaired to Washington. The President and Secretary of 
State individually favored his proposition ; but the jealousies 



98 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

of parties and sections in Congress forbade them to lend it 
their official sanction and patronage. He appealed to me. 
I drew the necessary bill. With the generous aid of others, 
Northern Representatives, and the indispensable aid of the' 
late Thomas J. Rusk, a Senator from. Texas, that bill, after 
a severe contest and long* delay, was carried through the 
Senate of the United States by the majority, if I remember 
rightly, of one vote, and escaped defeat in the House of 
Representatives with equal difficulty. I have said the aid of 
Mr. Rusk was indispensable. If any one has wondered why 
I, an extreme Northern man, loved and lamented Thomas 
J. Rusk, an equally extreme Southern man, he has here 
an explanation. There was no good thing' which, as it 
seemed to me, I could not do in Congress with his aid. 
When he died, it seemed to me that no good thing could be 
done by any one. Such was the position of Cyrus W. Field 
at that stage of the great enterprise. But, thus at last forti- 
fied with capital derived from New York and London, and 
with the navies of Great Britain and the United States at his 
command, he has, after trials that would have discouraged 
any other than a true discoverer, brought the great work to a, 9 
felicitous consummation. And now the Queen of Great Brit- 
ain and the President of the United States stand waiting his 
permission to speak, and ready to speak at his bidding ; and 
the people of these two great countries await only the signal 
from him to rush into a fraternal embrace which will prove 
the oblivion of ages of suspicion, of jealousies and of anger." 

Mr. Seward might well refer with pride to the part 
he took in sustaining this enterprise. He was from 
the beginning its firmest supporter. The bill was intro- 
duced into the Senate by him, and was carried through 



SEEKING AID FROM CONGRESS. 99 

mainly by his influence, seconded by Mr. Rusk, Mr. 
Douglas, and one or two others. It was introduced on 
the ninth of January, and came up for consideration 
on the twenty-first. Its friends had hoped that it 
might pass with entire unanimity. But such was the 
opposition, that the discussion lasted two days. The 
report shows that it was a subject of animated and 
almost angry debate, which brought out the secret of 
the opposition to aid being given by the Government. 

Probably no measure was ever introduced in Con- 
gress for the help of any commercial enterprise, that 
some member, imagining that it was to benefit a par- 
ticular section, did not object that it was " unconstitu- 
tional " ! This objection was well answered in this 
case by Mr. Benjamin, of Louisiana, who asked : 

"If we have a right to hire a warehouse at Port Mahon, 
in the Mediterranean, for storing naval stores, have we not 
a right to hire a company to carry our messages ? I 
should as soon think of questioning the constitutional power 
of the Government to pay freight to a vessel for carrying its 
mail-bags across the ocean, as to pay a telegraph company 
a certain sum per annum for conveying its messages by the 
use of the electric telegraph." 

This touched the precise ground on w^hich the appro- 
priation was asked. In their memorial to the Presi- 
dent, the Company had said : " Such a contract will, 
we suppose, fall within the provisions of the Constitu- 



100 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

tion in regard to postal arrangements, of which this is 
only a new and improved form." 

Mr. Bayard, of Delaware, explained in the same 
terms the nature of the proposed agreement : 

' ; It is a mail operation. It is a Post-Office arrangement. 
It is for the transmission of intelligence, and that is what I 
understood to be the function of the Post-Office Department. 
I hold it, therefore, to be as legitimately within the proper 
powers of the Government, as the employing of a stage- 
coach, or a steam-car, or a ship, to transport the mails, 
either to foreign countries, or to different portions of our 
own country." 

Of course, as in all appropriations of money, the 
question of expense had to be considered, and here 
there were not wanting some to cry out against the 
extravagance ef paying seventy thousand dollars a 
year ! We had not then got used to the colossal 
expenditures of w T ar, when w r e grew familiar w T ith 
paying three millions a day ! Seventy thousand dol- 
lars seemed a great sum; but Mr. Bayard in reply 
reminded them that England then paid nine hundred 
thousand dollars a year for the transportation of the 
mails between the United States and England ; and 
argued that it w^as a very small amount for the great 
service rendered. He said : 

"We have sent out ships to make explorations and 
observations in the Red Sea and in South America ; we sent 



SEEKING AID FROM CONGRESS. 101 

one or two expensive expeditions to Japan, and published at 
great cost some elegant books narrating their exploits. The 
expense even in ships alone, in that instance, was at the rate 
of twenty to one here, but no cry of economy was then 
raised. 1 ' "I look upon this proposition solely as a business 
measure ; in that point of view I believe the Government 
will obtain more service for the amount of money, than by 
any other contract that we have ever made, or now can 
make, for the transmission of intelligence." 

As to the expense of furnishing a ship of war to 
assist in laying the cable, Mr. Douglas asked : 

"Will it cost anything to furnish the use of one of our 
steamships ? They are idle. We have no practical use for 
them at present. They are in commission. They have their 
coal on board, and their full armament. They will be 
rendering no service to us if they are not engaged in this 
work. If there was nothing more than a question of national 
pride involved, I would gladly furnish the use of an Amer- 
ican ship for that purpose* England tenders one of her 
national vessels, and why should we not tender one also ? 
It costs England nothing, and it costs us nothing." 

Mr. Rusk made the same point, in arguing that ships 
might be sent to assist in laying the cable, giving this 
homely but sufficient reason : " I think that is better 
than to keep them rotting at the navy-yards, with the 
officers frollicking on shore." 

Mr. Douglas urged still further : 

"American citizens have commenced this enterprise, 
The honor and the glory of the achievement, if successful, 



102 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

will be due to American genius and American daring. Why 
should the American Government be so penurious — I do not 
know that that is the proper word, for it costs nothing — why 
should we be actuated by so illiberal a spirit as to refuse the 
use of one of our steamships to convey the wire when it 
does not cost one farthing to the Treasury of the United 
States ? " 

But behind all these objections of expense and of 
want of constitutional power, was one greater than all, 
and that was England ! The real animus of the oppo- 
sition was a fear of giving some advantage to Great 
Britain. This has always been sufficient to excite the 
hostility of a certain class of politicians. No matter 
what the subject of the proposed cooperation, if it 
were purely a scientific expedition, they were sure 
England was going to profit by it to our injury. So 
now there were those who felt that in this submarine 
cable England was literally crawling under the sea to 
get some advantage of the United States ! 

This jealousy and hostility spoke loudest from the 
mouths of Southerners. It is noteworthy that men 
who, in less than five years after, were figuring abroad, 
courting foreign influence against their own countrw 
were then fiercest in denunciatiou of England. Mason 
and Slidell voted together against the bill. Butler, of 
South Carolina, was very bitter in his opposition — 
saying, with a sneer, that " this was simply a mail ser- 
vice under the surveillance of Great Britain " — and so 



SEEKING AID FROM CONGRESS. 103 

was Hunter, of Virginia ; while Jones, of Tennessee, 
bursting with patriotism, found a sufficient reason for 
his opposition, in that u he did not want anything to 
do with England or Englishmen ! " 

But it should be said in justice, that to this general 
hostility of the South there were some exceptions. 
Benjamin, of Louisiana, gave the bill an earnest sup- 
port ; so did Mallory, of Florida, Chairman of the 
Naval Committee ; and especially that noble South- 
erner, Rusk, of Texas, " with whose aid," as Mr. 
Seward said, " it seemed that there was no good 
thing which he could not do in Congress." Mr. 
Busk declared that he regarded it as " the great 
enterprise of the age," and expressed his surprise at 
the very moderate subsidy asked for, only seventy 
thousand dollars a year, saying that, " with a reason- 
able prospect of success in an enterprise, calculated to 
produce such beneficial results, he should be willing to 
vote two hundred thousand dollars." 

But with the majority of Southern Senators, there 
was a repugnance to acting in concert with England, 
which could not be overcome. They argued that this 
was not truly a line between England and the United 
States, but between England and her own colonies — 
a line of which she alone was to reap the benefit. 
Both its termini were in the British possessions. In 
the event of war this would give a tremendous advan- 
tage to the power holding both ends of the line. All 



104 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

the speakers harped on this string; and it may be 
worth a page or two to see how this was met and 
answered. When Mr. Hunter, of Virginia, asked, 
" What security are we to have that in time of war 
we shall have the use of the telegraph as well as the 
British Government ? " Mr. Seward answered : 

' ' It appears not to have been contemplated by the British 
Government that there would ever be any interruption of 
the amicable relations between the two countries. There- 
fore nothing was proposed in their contract for the contin- 
gency of war. 

"That the two termini are both in the British dominions 
is true ; but it is equally true that there is no other terminus 
on this continent where it is practicable to make that com- 
munication except in the British dominions. We have no 
dominions on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. There 
is no other route known on Avhich the telegraphic wire could 
be drawn through the ocean so as to find a proper resting- 
place or anchorage except this. The distance on this route 
is seventeen hundred miles. It is not even known that the 
telegraphic wire will carry the fluid with sufficient strength 
to communicate across those seventeen hundred miles. 
That is yet a scientific experiment, and the Company are 
prepared to make it. 

"In regard to war, all the danger is this: There is a 
hazard of war at some future time, and whatever arrange- 
ments we might make, war would break them up. No 
treaty would save us. My own hope is, that after the tele- 
graphic wire is once laid, there will be no more war between 
the United States and Great Britain. I believe that when- 



SEEKING AID FROM CONGRESS. 105 

ever such a connection as this shall be made, we diminish 
the chances of war, and diminish them in such a degree, 
that it is not necessary to take them into consideration at 
the present moment. 

1 ' Let us see where we are. What shall we gain by re- 
fusing to enter into this agreement ? If we do not make it, 
the British Government has only to add ten thousand 
pounds sterling more annually, and they have the whole 
monopoly of this wire, without any stipulation whatever — 
not only in war but in peace. If we make this contract with 
the Company, we at least secure the benefit of it in time of 
peace, and we postpone and delay the dangers of war. If 
there shall ever be war, it would abrogate all treaties that 
can be made in regard to this subject, unless it be true, as 
the honorable Senator from Virginia thinks, that treaties 
can be made which will be regarded as obligatory by nations 
in time of war. If so, we have all the advantages in time 
of peace, for the purpose of making such treaties hereafter, 
without the least reason to infer that there would be any 
reluctance on the part of the British Government to enter 
into that negotiation with us, if we should desire to do so. 
The British Government, if it had such a disposition as the 
honorable Senator supposes, would certainly have proposed 
to monopolize all this telegraphic line, instead of proposing 
to divide it." * 

*It is worthy of notice, that when the Bill grantiug a charter to the 
Atlantic Telegraph Company was offered in the British Parliament, at 
least one nobleman found fault with it on this very ground, that it gave 
away important advantages which properly belonged to England, and 
which she ought to reserve to herself : 

" Id the House of Lords, od the twentieth of July, 1857, on the mo- 
tion for the third reading of the Telegraph Company's bill, 

"Lord Redesdale called attention to the fact that, although the ter- 



106 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 
Mr. Hale spoke in the same strain : 

' ' It seems to me that the war spirit and the contingencies 
of war are "brought in a little too often upon matters of legis- 
lation which have no necessary connection with them. If 
we are to he governed hy considerations of that sort, they 
would paralyze all improvements ; they would stop the 
great appropriations for commerce; they would at once 
neutralize that policy which sets our ocean steamers afloat. 
Nohody pretends that the intercourse which is kept up be- 
tween Great Britain and this country hy our ocean steamers 
would he continued in time of war; nor the communication 
with France or other nations. 

"If we are deterred for that reason, we shall he pursuing 
a policy that will paralyze improvements on those parts of 
the coast which lie contiguous to the lakes. The city of 
Detroit will have to he abandoned, beautiful and progressive 

mini of the proposed telegraph were both in her Majesty's dominions, 
namely, in Ireland and Newfoundland, the American Government were 
to enjoy the same priority as the British Government with regard to the 
transmission of messages. It was said that this equal right was owing 
to the fact that a joint guarantee had been given by the two Govern- 
ments. He thought, however, it would have been far better policy on the part 
of her Majesty's Government if they had either undertaken the whole guarantee 
themselves, and thus had obtained free and sole control over the connecting line 
of telegraph, or had invited our own colonies to participate in that guarantee, 
rather than have allowed a foreign government to join in making it. At the 
same time, if the clause in question had the sanction of her Majesty's 
ministry, it was not his intention to object to it. 

"Earl Granville said this telegraph was intended to counect two 
great countries, and, as the two Governments had gone hand in hand 
with regard to the guarantee, it seemed only reasonable that both 
should have the same rights as to transmitting messages. 

"The bill was then read a third time and passed." 



SEEKING AID FROM CONGRESS. 107 

as it is, because in time of war the mansions of her citizens 
there lie within the range of British guns. 

' ' What will the suspension bridge at Niagara be good 
for in a time of war ? If the British cut off their end of it, 
our end will not be worth much. I believe that among the 
things which will bind us together in peace, this telegraphic 
wire will be one of the most potent. It will bind the two 
countries together literally with cords of iron that will hold 
us in tfie bonds of peace. I repudiate entirely the policy 
which refuses to adopt it, because in time of war it may be 
interrupted. Such a policy as that would drive us back to a 
state of barbarism. It would destroy the spirit of progress ; 
it would retard improvement ; it would paralyze all the 
advances which are making us a more civilized, and a more 
informed and a better people than the one which pre- 
ceded us." 

Mr. Douglas cut the matter short by saying : 

" I am willing to vote for this bill as a peace measure, as 
a commercial measure — but not as a war measure ; aiid 
when war comes, let us rely on our power and ability to 
take this end of the wire, and keep it." 

Mr. Benjamin said : 

"The sum of money that this Government proposes to 
give for the use of this telegraph will amount, in the 
twenty-five years, to something between £300,000 and £400,- 
000. Now, if this be a matter of such immense importance 
to Great Britain — if this be the golden opportunity — and if, 
indeed, her control of this line be such a powerful engine, 
whether in war or in peace, is it not most extraordinary 
that she proposes to us a full share in its benefits and in its 



108 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

control, and allows to our Government equal rights with 
herself in the transmission of communications for the sum 
of about £300,000, to be paid in annual instalments through 
twenty-five years ? If this be, indeed, a very important 
instrumentality in behalf of Great Britain for the conduct 
of her commerce, the government of her possessions, or the 
efficient action of her troops in time of w^ar, the £300,000 
expended upon it are but as a drop in the bucket when com- 
pared with the immense resources of that empire. X think, 
therefore, we may as well discard from our consideration of 
this subject all these visions about the immense importance 
of the governmental aid in this matter, to be rendered under 
the provisions of this bill. 

" Mr. President, let us not always be thinking of war ; let 
us be using means to preserve peace. The amount that 
would be expended by this Government in six months' war 
with Great Britain, would far exceed every thing that we 
shall have to pay for the use of this telegraphic line for the 
entire twenty-five years of the contract; and do you not 
believe that this instrumentality will be sufficiently efficient 
to bind together the peace, the commerce, and the interests 
of the two countries, so as even to defer a war for six 
months or twelve months, if one should ever become inevit- 
able, beyond the period at which it would otherwise occur ? 
If it does that, it will in six or eight or nine months repay 
the expenditures of twenty-five years. 

1 ' Again , Sir, I say, if Great Britain wants it for war, she 
will put it there at her own expense. It is not three hundred 
thousand pounds, or four hundred thousand pounds, that 
will arrest her. If, on the contrary, this be useful to com- 
merce — useful in an eminent degree — useful for the preser- 
vation of peace, then I confess I feel some pride that my 



SEEKING AID FROM CONGRESS. , 109 

country should aid in establishing it. I confess 1 feel a 
glow of something like pride that I belong to the great 
human family when I see these triumphs of science, by 
which mind is brought into instant communication with 
mind across the intervening oceans, which, to our unen- 
lightened forefathers, seemed placed there by Providence 
as an eternal barrier to communication between man 
and man. Now, Sir, we speak from minute to minute. 
Scarcely can a gun be fired in w r ar on the European shore 
ere its echoes will reverberate among our own mountains, 
and be heard by every citizen in the land. All this is a 
triumph of science — of American genius, and I for one feel 
proud of it, and feel desirous of sustaining and pro- 
moting it." 

Mr. Douglas said : 

" Our policy is essentially a policy of peace. We want 
peace with the whole world, above all other considerations. 
There never has been a time in the history of this Republic, 
when peace was more essential to our prosperity, to our 
advancement, and to our progress, than it is now. We have 
made great progress in time of peace — an almost inconceiv- 
able progress since the last war with Great Britain. Twenty- 
five years more of peace will put us far in advance of any 
other nation on earth." 

It was fit that Mr. Seward, who introduced the 
bill, and opened the debate, should close in words 
that now seem prophetic, and show the large wis- 
dom, looking before and after, of this eminent states- 
man: 



HO STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

' ' There was an American citizen who, in the year 1770, or 
thereabout, indicated to this country, to Great Britain, and 
to the world, the use of the lightning for the purposes of 
communication of intelligence, and that was Dr. Franklin. 
I am sure that there is not only no member of the Senate, 
but no American citizen, however humble, who would be 
willing to have struck out from the achievements of Ameri- 
can invention this great discovery of the lightning as an 
agent for the uses of human society. 

' 'The suggestion made by that distinguished and illus- 
trious American w T as followed up some lif ty years afterward 
by another suggestion and another indication from another 
American, and that was Mr. Samuel F. B. Morse, who indi- 
cated to the American Government the means by which the 
lightning could be made to write, and by w 7 hich the tele- 
graphic wires could be made to supply the place of wind and 
steam for carrying intelligence. 

u We have followed out the suggestions of these eminent 
Americans hitherto, and I am sure at a very small cost. The 
Government of the United States appropriated $40,000 to 
test the practicability of Morse's suggestion ; the $40, 000 thus 
expended established its practicability and its use. Now, 
there is no person on the face of the globe who can measure 
the price at which, if a reasonable man, he would be willing 
to strike from the world the use of the magnetic telegraph as 
a means of communication between different portions of the 
same country. This great invention is now to be brought 
into its further, wider, and broader use — the use by the 
general society of nations, international use, the use of 
the society of mankind. Its benefits are large — just in pro- 
portion to the extent and scope of its operation. They 
are not merely benefits to the Government, but they are 



SEEKING AID FROM CONGRESS. Ill 

benefits to the citizens and subjects of all nations and of all 
States. 

"I might enlarge further on this subject, but I forbear to 
do so, because I know that at some future time I shall come 
across the record of what I have said to-day. I know that 
•then what I have said to-day, by way of anticipation, will 
fall so far short of the reality of benefits which individuals, 
States, and nations will have derived from this great enter- 
prise, that I shall not reflect upon it without disappointment 
and mortification." 

After such arguments, it should seem that there 
could be but one opinion, and yet the bill passed the 
Senate by only one majority ! It also had to run the 
gauntlet of the House of Representatives, where it 
encountered the same hostility. But at length it got 
through, and was signed bv President Pierce on the 
third of March, the day before he went out of office. 
Thus it became a law. 



CHAPTEE VIII. 

THE EXPEDITION OF 1857. 

Scarcely was the business with the American Gov- 
ernment completed, before Mr. Field was recalled to 
England. Once more upon the waves, he forgot the 
long delay and the vexatious opposition which he left 
behind — the fogs of Newfoundland, and the denser 
fogs of Washington. He was bound for England, and 
there at least the work did not stand still. All winter 
long the wheels of the machinery had kept in motion. 
The cable was uncoiling its mighty folds to a length 
sufficient to span the Atlantic, and at last there was 
hope of victory. 

Although the United States Government had seemed 
a little ungracious in its delay, it yet rendered, this 
year and the next, most important service. Already it 
had prepared the way, by the deep-sea soundings, 
which it was the first to take across the Atlantic. It 
now rendered additional and substantial aid in lending 
to this enterprise the two finest ships in the American 
navy — the Niagara and the Susquehanna. The former 
was built some dozen years before by George Steers — 
a name celebrated among our marine architects as the 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1857. 113 

constructor of the famous yacht America, that " race- 
horse of the sea," which had crossed the Atlantic, and 
carried off the prize in the British Channel from the 
yachts of England — and was designed to be a model 
of naval architecture. She was the largest steam- 
frigate in the world, exceeding in tonnage the heaviest 
line-of-battle ship in the English navy, and yet so finely 
modelled that, propelled only by a screw, she could 
make ten or twelve miles an hour. Notwithstanding 
her bulk, she was intended to carry but twelve guns — 
being one of the first ships in our navy to substitute a 
few heavy Dahlgrens for half a dozen times as many 
fifty -six-pounders. This was the beginning of that 
revolution in naval warfare, w T hich was carried to such 
extent in the Monitors and other ironclads introduced 
in our civil war. Each gun weighed fourteen tons — 
requiring a crew of twenty -five men to wield it — and 
threw a shell of one hundred and thirty pounds a dis- 
tance of three miles. One or two broadsides from such 
a deck would sink an old-fashioned seventy-four, or 
even a ninety or hundred-gun ship. 

But as the Niagara w r as now to go on an errand of 
peace, this formidable armament was not taken on 
board. She was built with what is known as a flush 
deck, clear from stem to stern, and being without 
her guns, was left free for the more peaceful burden 
that she was to bear. When the orders were received 
from Washington, she was lying at the Brooklyn 
8 



114 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

Navy- Yard, but began immediately to prepare for 
her expedition. Bulkheads were knocked down, above 
and below, to make room for the huge monster of the 
deep that was to be coiled within her sides. These 
preparations occupied four or five weeks. On the 
twenty -second of April, she made a trial trip down the 
bay, and two days after sailed for England, in com- 
mand of Captain William L. Hudson, one of the old- 
est and best officers in our navy, who, to his past ser- 
vices to his country, was now to add another in the 
expeditions of this and the following }^ear. He had 
with him as Chief Engineer Mr. William E. Everett, 
whose mechanical genius proved so important in con- 
structing the paying-out machinery. 

Besides the regular ship's crew, no one was received 
on board except Mr. Field and Professor Morse, who 
went as the electrician of the Newfoundland Com- 
pany ; and two officers of the Russian navy — Captain 
Schwartz and Lieutenant Kolobnin — who were per- 
mitted by our Government, as an act of national court- 
esy, to go out to witness the great experiment. The 
regulations of the navy did not admit correspondents 
of the press ; but Professor Morse was permitted to 
take a secretary, and chose Mr. Mullaly, who reported 
for the New York Herald, and who had thus an 
opportunity to 'witness all the preparations on land 
and sea, and to furnish those minute and detailed 
accounts of the several expeditions, which contribute 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1857. 115 

some important chapters in the history of this enter- 
prise. 

The Niagara arrived out on the fourteenth of May, 
and cast anchor off Gravesend, about twenty -five miles 
below London. As it was the first time — at least for 
many years — that an American ship of war had ap- 
peared in the Thames, this fact, with her fine propor- 
tions and the object for which she came, attracted a 
crowd of visitors. Every day, from morning to night, 
a fleet of boats was around her, and men and women 
thronged over her sides. Everybody was welcome. 
All were received with the utmost courtesy, and 
allowed access to all parts of the ship. Among these 
were many visitors of distinction. Here came Lady 
Franklin to thank the generous nation that had sent 
two expeditions to recover her husband lost amid 
Polar seas. She was, of course, the object of general 
attention and respectful sympathy. 

While lying in the Thames, the Agamemnon, that 
was to take the other half of the cable, passed up the 
river. This was a historical ship, having borne the 
flag of the British admiral at the bombardment of 
Sebastopol, and distinguished herself by steaming up 
within a few hundred vards of the guns of the for- 
tress. After passing through the fires of that terrible 
clay, she was justly an object of pride to Britons, 
whose hearts swelled as they saw this oak-ribbed levi- 
athan, that had come " out of the gates of death, out 



116 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

of the jaws of hell," now preparing to take part in 
achievements of peace, not less glorious than those of 
war. She was under command of Captain Noddal, of 
the Royal Navy. 

As the Agamemnon came up the. river in grand 
style, she recognized the Niagara lying off Gravesend, 
and manning her yards, gave her a succession of those 
English hurras so stirring to the blood, when heard 
on land or sea, to which our tars replied with lusty 
American cheers. It was pleasant to observe, from 
this time, the hearty good-will that existed between 
the officers and crews of the two ships, who in their 
exertions for the common object, were animated only 
by a generous rivalry. 

A few days after, the Niagara was joined by the 
Susquehanna, Captain Sands, which had been ordered 
from the Mediterranean to take part also in the 
expedition. She was a fit companion ship, being 
the largest side-wheel steamer in our navy, as the 
other was the largest propeller. Both together, 
they were worthy representatives of the American 
navy. 

When the Niagara arrived in the Thames, it was 
supposed she would take on board her half of the 
cable from the manufactory of Glass, Elliot & Co., at 
Greenwich ; but on account of her great length, it 
was difficult to bring her up alongside the wharf in 
front of the works. This was therefore left to the 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1857. 117 

Agamemnon, while the Niagara was ordered around 
to Liverpool, to take the other half from the works of 
Newall & Co., at Birkenhead, opposite that city. 
Accordingly she left Gravesend on the fifth of June, 
and reached Portsmouth the next day, where she 
remained a fortnight, to have some further alterations 
to fit her to receive the cable. Although she had been 
already pretty well " scooped out," fore and aft, the 
cry was still for room. Officers had to shift for them- 
selves, as their quarters were swept away to make a 
wider berth for their iron guest. But all submitted 
with excellent grace. Like true sailors, they took it 
gayly as if they were only clearing the decks for bat- 
tle. Among other alterations for safety, was a frame- 
work or cage of iron, which w r as put over the stern 
of the ship, to keep the cable from getting entangled 
in the screw. As soon as these were completed, the 
Niagara left for Liverpool, and on the twenty-second 
of June cast anchor in the Mersey. Here she attracted 
as much attention as in the Thames, being crowded 
with visitors during the week ; and on Sunda} r s, when 
none were received on board, the river-boats sought to 
gratify public curiosity by sailing round her. The 
officers of the ship were objects of constant hospitality, 
both from private citizens and from the public author- 
ities. The Mayor of Liverpool gave them a dinner, 
the Chamber of Commerce another, while the Ameri- 
cans in Liverpool entertained them on the fourth of 



118 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

July — the first public celebration of our national anni- 
versary ever had in that city. 

But while these festivities were kept up on shore, 
hard work was done on board the ship. To coil 
thirteen hundred miles of cable was an immense under- 
taking. Yet it was all done by the sailors themselves. 
Xo compulsion was used, and none was needed. Xo 
sooner was there a call for volunteers, than men 
stepped forward in greater numbers than could be 
employed. Out of these were chosen one hundred and 
twenty stalwart fellows, who were divided into two 
g-angs of sixtv men, and each gang into watches of 
thirty, which relieved each other, and all went to 
work with such enthusiasm, that in three weeks the 
herculean task was completed. The event was cele- 
brated by a final dinner given by the shareholders of 
the Atlantic Telegraph Company in Liverpool to Cap- 
tain Hudson and Captain Sands of the Susquehanna, 
whose arrival in the Mersey enabled them to extend 
their hospitalities to the officers of both ships. 

While the Niagara was thus doing her part, the 
same scene was repeated on board the Agamemnon, 
which was still lying in the Thames. There the work 
was completed about the same day, and the occasion 
duly honored by a scene as unique as it was beautiful. 
Says the London Times of July twenty-fourth : 

"All the details connected with the manufacture and 
stowage of the cable are now completed, and the conclusion 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1857. 119 

of the arduous labor was celebrated yesterday with high 
festivity and rejoicing. All the artisans who have been 
engaged upon the great work, with their wives and families, 
a large party of the officers, with the sailors from the 
Agamemnon, and a number of distinguished scientific vis- 
itors, were entertained upon this occasion at a kind of fete 
champetre at Belvidere House, the seat of Sir Culling Eard- 
ley, near Erith. The festival was held in the beautiful park 
which had been obligingly opened by Sir Culling Eardley 
for the purpose. Although in no way personally interested 
in the project, the honorable baronet has all along evinced 
the liveliest sympathy with the undertaking, and himself 
proposed to have the completion of the work celebrated 
in his picturesque grounds. The manufacturers, fired with 
generous emulation, erected spacious tents on the lawn, and 
provided a magnificent banquet for the guests, and a sub- 
stantial one for the sailors of the Agamemnon and the 
artificers who had been employed in the construction of the 
cable. By an admirable arrangement, the guests were 
accommodated at a vast semi-circular table, which ran round 
the whole pavilion, while the sailors and workmen sat at a 
number of long tables arranged at right angles with the 
chord, so that the general effect was that all dined together, 
while at the same time sufficient distinction was preserved 
to satisfy the most fastidious. The three centre tables were 
occupied by the crew of the Agamemnon, a fine, active body 
of young men, who paid the greatest attention to the 
speeches, and drank all the toasts with an admirable punctu- 
ality, at least so long as their three pints of beer per man 
lasted ; but we regret to add that, what with the heat of the 
day and the enthusiasm of Jack in the cause of science, the 
mugs were all empty long before the chairman's list of toasts 



120 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

had been gone through. Next in interest to the sailors 
were the workmen and their wives and babies, all being per- 
mitted to assist at the great occasion. The latter, it is true, 
sometimes squalled at an affecting peroration, but that rather 
improved the effect than otherwise, and the presence of 
these little ones only marked the genuine good feeling of the 
employers, who had thus invited not only their workmen, 
but their workmen's families to the feast. It was a momen- 
tary return to the old patriarchal times, and every one pres- 
ent seemed delighted with the experiment." 

Speeches were made by Sir Culling Eardley, by 
Mr. Card well, of the House of Commons, Mr. Brook- 
ing, one of the Directors, by Professor Morse, and 
others. Mr. Field read a letter from President Bu- 
chanan, saying that he should feel honored if the first 
message should be one from Queen Victoria to himself, 
and that he " would endeavor to answer it in a spirit 
and manner becoming a great occasion." 

Thus, labor and feasting being ended, the Niagara 
and the Susquehanna left Liverpool the latter part of 
July and steamed down St. George's Channel to 
Queenstown, which was to be the rendezvous of the 
telegraphic squadron, where they were joined by the 
Agamemnon and the Leopard, which was to be her 
consort. The former, as she entered the harbor, came 
to anchor about a third of a mile from the Niagara. 
The presence of the two ships which had the cable on 
board, gave an opportunity which the electricians had 
desired to test its integrity. Accordingly one end of 



THE EXPEDITION OP 1857. 121 

each cable was carried to the opposite ship, and so 
joined as to form a continuous length of twenty-five 
hundred miles, both ends of which were on board the 
Agamemnon. One end was then connected with the 
apparatus for transmitting the electric current, and on a 
sensitive galvanometer being attached to the other end, 
the whole cable was tested from end to end, and found 
to be perfect. These experiments were continued for 
two days with the same result. This inspired fresh 
hopes for the success of the expedition, and in high 
spirits they bore away for the harbor of Valentia. 

It had been for some time a matter of discussion, 
where they should begin to lay the cable, whether 
from the coast of Ireland, or in mid-ocean, the two 
ships making the junction there, and dropping it to 
the bottom of the sea, and then parting, one to the 
east and the other to the west, till they landed their 
ends on the opposite shores of the Atlantic. This was 
the plan adopted the following year, and which finally 
proved successful. It was the one preferred by the 
engineers now, but the electricians favored the other 
course, and their counsel prevailed. It was therefore 
decided to submerge the whole cable in a continuous 
line from Valentia Bay to Newfoundland. The Ni- 
agara was to lay the first half from Ireland to the 
middle of the Atlantic ; the end would then be joined 
to the other half on board the Agamemnon, which 
would take it on to the coast of Newfoundland. 



122 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

During the whole process the four vessels were to 
remain together and give whatever assistance was re- 
quired. While it was being laid down, messages were 
to be sent back to Valentia, reporting each day's 
progress. 

As might be supposed, the mustering of such a fleet 
of ships, and the busy note of preparation which had 
been heard for weeks, produced a great sensation in 
this remote part of Ireland. The people from far and 
near, gathered on the hills and looked on in silent 
w r onder. 

To add to the dignity of the occasion, the Lord 
Lieutenant came down from Dublin to witness the 
departure of the expedition. No one could have been 
better fitted to represent his own country, and to com- 
mand audience from ours. The Earl of Carlisle — bet- 
ter known among us as Lord Morpeth — had travelled 
in the United States a few years before, and shown 
himself one of the most intelligent and liberal for- 
eigners that have visited America. No representative 
of England could on that day have stood upon the 
shores of Ireland, and stretched out his hand to his 
kindred beyond the sea with more assurance that his 
greeting would be warmly responded to. And never 
did one speak more aptly words of wisdom and of 
peace. We read them still with admiration for their 
beauty and their eloquence, and with an interest more 
tender but more sad, that this great and good man — 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1857. 123 

the true friend of his own country and of ours — has 
gone to his grave. To quote his own words is the 
best tribute to his memory, and will do more than 
any eulogy to keep it fresh and green in the hearts of 
Americans. On his arrival at Valentia, he was enter- 
tained by the Knight of Kerry at one of those public 
breakfasts so much in fashion in England, at which in 
response to a toast in his honor, after making his per- 
sonal acknowledgments, he said : 

"I believe, as your worthy chairman has already hinted, 
that I am probably the first Lieutenant of Ireland who ever 
appeared upon this lovely strand. At all events, no Lord 
Lieutenant could have come amongst you on an occasion 
like the present. Amidst all the pride and the stirring hopes 
which cluster around the work of this week, we ought still 
to remember that we must speak with the modesty of those 
who begin and not of those who close an experiment, and it 
behooves us to remember that the pathway to great achieve- 
ments has frequently to be hewn out amidst risks and diffi- 
culties, and that preliminary failure is even the law and con- 
dition of the ultimate success. Therefore, whatever disap- 
pointments may possibly be in store, I must yet insinuate to 
you that in a cause like this it would be criminal to feel 
discouragement. In the very design and endeavor to estab- \ 
lish the Atlantic Telegraph there is almost enough of glory. 
It is true if it be only an attempt there would not be quite 
enough of profit. I hope that will come, too ; but there is 
enough of public spirit, of love for science, for our country, / 
for the human race, almost to suffice in themselves. How- 
ever, upon this rocky frontlet of Ireland, at all events, to- 



124 STORY OP THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

day we will presume upon success. We are about, either by 
this sundown or by to-morrow's dawn, to establish a new 
material link between the Old World and the New. Moral 
links there have been — links of race, links of commerce, 
links of friendship, links of literature, links of glory ; but 
this, our new link, instead of superseding and supplanting the 
old ones, is to give a life and an intensity which they never 
had before. Highly as I value the reputations of those who 
have conceived, and those who have contributed to carry 
out this bright design — and I wish that so many of them had 
not been unavoidably prevented from being amongst us at 
this moment* — highly as I estimate their reputation, yet I 
do not compliment them with the idea that they are to efface 
or dim the glory of that Columbus, who, when the large 
vessels in the harbor of Cork yesterday weighed their 
anchors, did so on that very day three hundred and sixty- 
five years ago— it would have been called in Hebrew writ a 
year of years — and set sail upon his glorious enterprise of 
discovery. They, I say, will not dim or efface his glory, but 
they are now giving the last finish and consummation to his 
work. Hitherto the iu habitants of the two worlds have 
associated perhaps in the chilling atmosphere of distance 
with each other — a sort of bowing distance ; but now we 
can be baud to hand, grasp to grasp, pulse to pulse. The 
link, which is now to connect us, like the insect in the im- 
mortal couplet of our poet : 

"While exquisitely fine, 
Feels at each thread and lives along the line. 

And we may feel, gentlemen of Ireland, of England, and of 
America, that we may take our stand here upon the extreme 

* Mr. Field was detained by illness at Valentia, and several of the 
ships had not arrived. 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1857. 125 

rocky edge of our beloved Ireland; we may, as it were, 
leave in our rear behind us the wars, the strifes, and the 
bloodshed of the elder Europe, and of the elder Asia; and 
we may pledge ourselves, weak as our agency may be, im- 
perfect as our powers may be, inadequate in strict diplo- 
matic form as our credentials may be, yet, in the face of the 
unparalleled circumstances, of the place and the hour, in 
the immediate neighborhood of the mighty vessels whose 
appearance may be beautiful upon the waters, even as are 
the feet upon the mountains of those who preach the Gospel 
of peace — as an homage due to that serene science which 
often affords higher and holier lessons of harmony and good 
will than the wayward passions of man are always apt to 
learn — in the face and in the strength of such circumstances, 
let us pledge ourselves to eternal peace between the Old 
World and the New. 1 ' 

While these greetings were exchanged on shore, 
only the smaller vessels of the squadron had arrived. 
But in a few hours the great hulls of the Niagara and 
the Agamemnon, followed b) r the Leopard and the 
Susquehanna, were seen in the horizon, and soon they 
all cast anchor in the bay. As the sun went down in 
the west, shining still on the other hemisphere which 
they were going to seek, its last rays fell on an expedi- 
tion more suggestive and hopeful than any since that 
of Columbus from the shores of Spain, and upon navi- 
gators not unworthy to be his followers. 

The whole squadron w T as now assembled, and made 
gallant array. There were present in the little har- 



126 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

bor of Valentia seven ships — the stately Niagara, 
which was to lay the half of the cable from Ireland, 
and her consort, the Susquehanna, riding by her side ; 
while floating the flag of England, were the Aga- 
memnon, which was appointed to lay the cable on the 
American side, and her consort, the Leopard. Beside 
these high-decked ships of war, the steamer Advice 
had come round to give, not merely advice but lusty 
help in landing the cable at Valentia ; and the little 
steamer Willing Mind, with a zeal wortlry of her name, 
was flying back and forth between ship and shore, 
lending a hand wherever there was work to be done ; 
and the Cyclops, under the experienced command of 
Captain Dayman, who had made the deep-sea sound- 
ings across the Atlantic only the month before, here 
joined the squadron to lead the way across the deep. 
This made five English ships, with but two American ; 
but to keep up our part, there were two more steam- 
ers on the other side of the sea, the Arctic, under 
Lieutenant Berryman, and the Company's steamer 
Victoria, to watch for the coming of the fleet off the 
coast of Newfoundland, and help in landing the cable 
on the shores of the New World. 

It was now Tuesday evening, the fourth of August, 
too late to undertake the landing that night, but 
preparations were at once begun for it the next 
morning. Said the correspondent of the Liverpool 
Post: 

/ 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1857. 127 

14 The skips were visited in the course of the evening by 
the Directors and others interested in the great undertaking, 
and arrangements were immediately commenced on hoard 
the Niagara for paying out the shore rope for conveyance to 
the mainland. These arrangements were fully perfected by 
Wednesday morning; hut for some hours the state of the 
weather rendered it doubtful whether operations could be 
safely proceeded with. Toward the afternoon the breeze 
calmed down, and at two o'clock it was decided that an 
effort should be made to land the cable at once. The pro- 
cess of uncoiling into the small boats commenced at half- 
past two, and the scene at this period was grand and exciting 
in the highest degree. 

"Valentia Bay was studded with innumerable small 
craft, decked w T ith the gayest bunting — small boats flitted 
hither and thither, their occupants cheering enthusiastically 
as the work successfully progressed. The cable-boats w^ere 
managed by the sailors of the Niagara and Susquehanna, 
and it was a w^ell-designed compliment, and indicative of 
the future fraternization of the nations, that the shore rope 
was arranged to be presented at this side the Atlantic to the 
representative of the Queen, by the officers and men of the 
United States navy, and that at the other side the British 
officers and sailors should make a similar presentation to the 
President of the Great Republic. 

" From the main land the operations were watched with 
intense interest. For several hours the Lord Lieutenant 
stood on the beach, surrounded by his staff and the directors 
of the railway and telegraph companies, waiting the arrival 
of the cable, and when at length the American sailors 
jumped through the surge with the hawser to wdiich it was 
attached, his Excellency was among the first to lay hold of 



128 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

it and pull it lustily to the shore. Indeed every one present 
seemed desirous of having a hand in the great work ; and 
never before perhaps were there so many willing assistants, 
at ' the long pull, the strong pull, and the pull all together. ' 
' ' At half-past seven o'clock the cable was hauled on 
shore, and formal presentation was made of it to the Lord 
Lieutenant by Captain Pennock, of the Niagara; his Excel- 
lency expressing a hope that the work so well begun would 
be carried to a satisfactory completion.' 1 

The wire having been secured to a house on the 
beach, the Reverend Mr. Day, of Kenmore, advanced 
and offered the following prayer : 

' ' O Eternal Lord God, who alone spreadest out the 
heavens, and rulest the raging of the sea ; who hast com- 
passed the water with bounds, till day and night come to an 
end; and whom the winds and the sea obey; look down in 
mercy, we beseech thee, upon us thy servants, who now 
approach the throne of grace ; and let our prayer ascend before 
thee with acceptance. Thou hast commanded and encour- 
aged us, in all our ways, to acknowledge thee, and to com- 
mit our works to thee ; and thou hast graciously promised 
to direct our paths, and to prosper our handiwork. We 
desire now to look up to thee ; and believing that without 
thy help and blessing, nothing can prosper or succeed, we 
humbly commit this work, and all who are engaged in it, to 
thy care and guidance. Let it please thee to grant to us thy 
servants wisdom and power, to complete what we have been 
led by thy Providence to undertake ; that being begun and 
carried on in the spirit of prayer, and in dependence upon 
thee, it may tend to thy glory : and to the good of all nations, 
by promoting the increase of unity, peace, and concord. 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1857. 129 

" Overrule, we pray thee, every obstacle, and remove 
every difficulty which would prevent us from succeeding in 
this important undertaking. Control the winds and the sea 
by thy Almighty power, and grant us such favorable 
weather that we may be enabled to lay the Cable safely and 
effectually. And may thy hand of power and mercy be so 
acknowledged by all, that the language of every heart may 
be, ' Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name 
give glory, ' that so thy name may be hallowed and magni- 
fied in us and by us. 

' ' Finally, we beseech thee to implant within us a spirit of 
humility and childlike dependence upon thee ; and teach us 
to feel as well as to say, ' If the Lord will, we shall do this 
or that.' 

"Hear us, O Lord, and answer us in these our petitions, 
according to thy precious promise, for Jesus Christ's sake. 
Amen.'' 

The Lord Lieutenant then spoke once more — words 
that amid such a scene and at such an hour, sank into 
all hearts : 

"My American, English, and Irish friends, I feel at such 
a moment as this that no language of mine can be becoming 
except that of prayer and praise. However, it is allowable 
to any human lips, though they have not been specially 
qualified for the office, to raise the ascription of ' Glory to 
God in the highest; on earth peace, good-will to men.' 
That, I believe, is the spirit in which this great work has 
been undertaken; and it is this reflection that encourages 
me to feel confident hopes in its final success. I believe 
that the great work now so happily begun will accomplish 
many great and noble purposes of trade, of national policy, 



130 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

and of empire. But there is only one view in which I will 
present it to those whom I have the pleasure to address. 
You are aware — you must know, some of you, from your 
own experience — that many of your dear friends and near 
relatives have left their native land to receive hospitable 
shelter in America. Well, then, I do not expect that all of 
you can understand the wondrous mechanism by which this 
great undertaking is to he carried on. But this, I think, 
you all of you understand. If you wished to communicate 
some piece of intelligence straightway to your relatives 
across the wide world of waters — if you wished to tell those 
whom you know it would interest in their heart of hearts, 
of a birth, or a marriage, or, alas, a death, among you, the 
little cord, which we have now hauled up to the shore, will 
impart that tidings quicker than the flash of the lightning. 
Let us indeed hope, let us pray that the hopes of those who 
have set on foot this great design, may be rewarded by its 
entire success; and let us hope, further, that this Atlantic 
Cable will, in all future time, serve as an emblem of that 
strong cord of love which I trust will always unite the Brit- 
ish islands to the great continent of America. And you will 
join me in my fervent wish that the Giver of all good, who 
has enabled some of his servants to discern so much of the 
working of the mighty laws by which he fills the universe, 
will further so bless this wonderful work, as to make it 
even more to serve the high purpose of the good of man, 
and tend to his great glory. And now, all my friends, as 
there can be no project or undertaking which ought not to 
receive the approbation and applause of the people, will you 
join with me in giving three hearty cheers for it ? [Loud 
cheering.] Three cheers are not enough for /ne — they are 
what we give on common occasions — and as it is for the 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1857. 131 

success of the Atlantic Telegraph Cable, I must have at least 
one dozen cheers. [Loud and protracted cheering ] " 

Mr. Brooking, the Chairman of the Executive Com- 
mittee of the Atlantic Telegraph Company, then 
expressed the thanks which all felt to the Lord Lieu- 
tenant for his presence on that occasion. 

Then there were loud calls for Mr. Field. He 
could only answer : 

"I have no words to express the feelings which fill my 
heart to-night — it beats with love and affection for every 
man, woman and child who hears me. I may say, however, 
that, if ever at the other side of the waters now before us. 
any one of you shall present himself at my door and say 
that he took hand or part, even by an approving smile, in 
our work here to-day, he shall have a true American wel- 
come. I cannot bind myself to more, and shall merely say : 
'What God has joined together, let not man put asunder.' ' 

Thus closed this most interesting scene. The Lord 
Lieutenant was obliged to return at once to the cap- 
ital. He therefore left, and posted that night to Kil- 
larney, and the next day returned by special train to 
Dublin, leaving the ships to complete the work so 
happily begun. 

The landing of the cable took place on Wednesday, 
the fifth of August, near the hour of sunset. As it 
was too late to proceed that evening, the ships remained 
at anchor till the morning. They got under weigh at 
an early hour, but were soon checked by an accident 



132 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

which detained them another day. Before they had 
gone five miles, the heavy shore end of the cable 
caught in the machinery and parted. The Niagara 
put back, and the cable was " underrun " the whole 
distance. At length the end was lifted out of the 
water and spliced to the gigantic coil, and as it dropped 
safely to the bottom of the sea, the mighty ship began 
to stir. At first she moved very slowly, not more than 
two miles an hour, to avoid the danger of accident ; 
but the feeling that thev were at last awav was itself 
a relief. The ships were all in sight, and so near 
that they could hear each other's bells. The Niagara, 
as if knowing that she was bound for the land out of 
w T hose forests she came, bowed her head to the waves, 
as her prow was turned toward her native shores. 

Slowly passed the hours of that day. But all went 
well, and the ships were moving out into the broad 
Atlantic. At length the sun went down in the west, 
and stars came out on the face of the deep. But no 
man slept. A thousand eyes were watching a great 
experiment as those who have a personal interest in 
the issue. All through that night, and through the 
anxious days and nights that followed, there was a 
feeling in every soul on board, as if some dear 
friend were at the turning-point of life or death, and 
they were watching beside him. There was a strange, 
unnatural silence in the ship. Men paced the deck 
with soft and muffled tread, speaking only in wiiis- 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1857. 133 

pers, as if a loud voice or a heavy footfall might snap 
the vital cord. So much had they grown to feel for 
the enterprise, that the cable seemed to them like a 
human creature, on whose fate they hung, as if it 
were to decide their own destiny. 
/ There are some who will never forget that first 
J night at sea. Perhaps the reaction from the excite- 
' ment on shore made the impression the deeper. There 
are moments in life when every thing comes back 
upon us. What memories came up in those long night 
hours ! How many on board that ship, as they stood 
on the deck and watched that mysterious cord disap- 
pearing in the darkness, thought of homes beyond the 
sea, of absent ones, of the distant and the dead ! 

But no musings turn them from the work in hand. 
There are vigilant eyes on deck. Mr. Bright, the 
engineer of the Company, is there, and Mr. Everett, 
Mr. De Sauty, the electrician, and Professor Morse. 
The paying-out machinery does its work, and though it 
makes a constant rumble in the ship, that dull, heavy 
sound is music to their ears, as it tells them that all is 
well. If one should drop to sleep, and wake up at 
night, he has only to hear the sound of " the old coffee- 
mill," and his fears are relieved, and he goes to sleep 
again. 

Saturday was a day of beautiful weather. The 
ships were getting farther away from land, and began 
to steam ahead at the rate of four and five miles an 



134 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

hour. The cable was paid out at a speed a little faster 
than that of the ship, to allow for any inequalities 
of surface on the bottom of the sea. While it was 
thus going overboard, communication was kept up 
•constantly with the land. Every moment the current 
was passing between ship and shore. The communi- 
cation was as perfect as between Liverpool and Lon- 
don, or Boston and New York. Xot only did the 
electricians telegraph back to Yalentia the progress 
they were making, but the officers on board sent mes- 
sages to their friends in America, to go out by the 
steamers from Liverpool. The heavens seemed to 
smile on them that day. The coils came up from 
below the deck without a kink, and unwinding them- 
selves easily, passed over the stern into the sea. Once 
or twice an alarm was created by the cable being 
thrown off the wheels. This was owing to the sheaves 
not being wide enough and deep enough, and being 
filled with tar, which hardened in the air. This was 
a great defect of the machineiy which was remedied 
in the later expeditions. Still it worked well, and so 
long as those terrible brakes kept off their iron gripe, 
it might work through to the end. 

All day Sunday the same favoring fortune con- 
tinued ; and when the officers, who could be spared 
from the deck, met in the cabin, and Captain Hudson 
read the service, it was with subdued voices and grate- 
ful hearts they responded to the prayers to Him who 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1857. 135 

spreadeth out the heavens, and ruleth the raging of 
the sea. 

On Monday they were over two hundred miles at 
sea. They had got far beyond the shallow waters off 
the coast. They had passed over the submarine moun- 
tain which figures on the charts of Dayman and Berry- 
man, and where Mr. Bright's log gives a descent from 
five hundred and fifty to seventeen hundred and fifty 
fathoms within eight miles ! Then they came to the 
deeper waters of the Atlantic, where the cable sank to 
the awful depth of two thousand fathoms. Still the 
iron cord buried itself in the waves, and every instant 
the flash of light in the darkened telegraph room told 
of the passage of the electric current. 

But Monday evening, about nine o'clock, occurred a 
mysterious interruption, which staggered all on board. 
Suddenly the electrical continuity was lost. The cable 
was not broken, but it ceased to work. Here was a 
mystery. De Sauty tried it, and Professor Morse tried 
it. But neither could make it work. It seemed that 
all was over. The electricians gave it up, and the en- 
gineers w r ere preparing to cut the cable, and to endeav- 
or to wind it in, when suddenly the electricity came 
hack again. This made the mystery greater than ever. 
It had been interrupted for two hours and a half. 
This was a phenomenon which has never been ex- 
plained. Professor Morse was of opinion that the 
cable, in getting off the wheels, had been strained so 



136 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

as to open the gutta-percha, and thus destroy the insu- 
lation. If this be the true explanation, it would seem 
that on reaching the bottom the seam had closed, and 
thus the continuity had been restored. But it was cer- 
tainly an untoward incident, which " cast ominous 
conjecture on the whole success," as it seemed to indi- 
cate that there were at the bottom of the sea causes 
which were wholly unknown and against which it was 
impossible to provide. 

The return of the current was like life from the 
dead. Says Mullaly : 

' ' The glad news was soon circulated throughout the ship, 
and all felt as if they had a new life. A rough, weather- 
beaten old sailor, who had assisted in coiling many a long 
mile of it on board the Niagara, and who was among the 
first to run to the telegraph office to have the news con- 
firmed, said he would have given fifty dollars out of his pay 
to have saved that cable. ' I have watched nearly every 
mile of it, ' he added, ' as it came over the side, and I would 
have given fifty dollars, poor as I am; to have saved it, 
although I don't expect to make any thing by it when it is 
laid down.' In his own simple way he expressed the feel- 
ings of every one on board, for all are as much interested in 
the success of the enterprise as the largest shareholder in the 
Company. They talked of the cable as they would of a pet 
child, and never was child treated with deeper solicitude 
than that with which the cable is watched by them. You 
could see the tears standing in the eyes of some as they al- 
most cried for joy, and told their messmates that it was all 
right." 



THE EXPEDITION OP 1857. 137 

It was indeed a great relief ; and though still anxious, 
after watching till past midnight, a few crept to their 
couches, to snatch an hour or two of broken sleep. 
But before the morning broke, the hopes thus revived 
were again and finally destroyed. 

The cable was running out freely at the rate of six 
miles an hour, w T hile the ship was advancing but about 
four. This was supposed to be owing to a powerful 
under-current. To check this waste, the engineer ap- 
plied the brakes firmly, which at once stopped the 
machine. The effect was to bring a heavy strain on 
the cable that was in the water. The stern of the ship 
was down in the trough of the sea, and as it rose up- 
ward on the swell, the tension was too great, and the 
cable parted. 

Instantly ran through the ship a cry of grief and 
dismay. She was stopped in her onward path, and in 
a few minutes all gathered on deck with feelings 
which may be imagined. One who was present wrote : 
" The unbidden tear started to many a manly eye. 
The interest taken in the enterprise by all, every one, 
officers and men, exceeded any thing I ever saw, and 
there is no wonder that there should have been so 
much emotion at our failure." Captain Hudson says : 
" It made all hands of us through the day like a house- 
hold or family which had lost their dearest friend, for 
officers and men had been deeply interested in the suc- 
cess of the enterprise." 



138 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

There was nothing left but to return to England. 
The position is very clearly stated by Mr. Field in a 
letter to one of his family, which shows how his own 
courage survived the great disaster : — 

"H. M. Steamer Leopard, Thursday ; | 
August 13, 1857. \ 



44 The successful laying down of the Atlantic Telegraph 
Cable is put off for a short time, but its final triumph has 
been fully proved, by the experience that we have had since 
we left Valentia. My confidence was never so strong as at 
the present time, and I feel sure, that with God's blessing, 
we shall connect Europe and America with the electric 
cord. 

"After having successfully laid — and part of the time 
while a heavy sea was running — three hundred and thirty- 
five miles of the cable, and over one hundred miles of it in 
water more than two miles in depth, the brakes were applied 
more firmly, by order of Mr. Bright, the engineer, to pre- 
vent the cable from going out so fast, and it parted. 

' ' I retired to my state-room at a little after midnight 
Monday, all going on well, and at a quarter before four 
o'clock on Tuesday morning, the eleventh instant, I was 
awoke from my sleep by the cry of ' Stop her, back her ! ' 
and in a moment Mr. Bright was in my room, with the sad 
intelligence that the cable was broken. In as short a time 
as possible I was dressed, and on deck ; and Captain Hudson 
at once signaled the other steamers that the cable had parted, 
and in a few moments Captain Wainwright, of the Leopard, 
and Captain Sands, of the Susquehanna, were on board of 
the Niagara. 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1857. 139 

"I requested Captain Wainwright, the commander of the 
English Telegraph Fleet, to order the Agamemnon to remain 
with the Niagara and Susquehanna, in this deep part of the 
Atlantic for a few days, to try certain experiments which 
will he of great value to us, and then sail with them hack to 
England, and all wait at Plymouth until further orders. I 
further requested Captain Wainwright to order the Cyclops 
to sound here where the cahle parted, and then steam hack 
to Valentia, with letters from me to Dr. Whitehouse, and 
Mr. Saward, the secretary of the Atlantic Telegraph Com- 
pany ; and that he should take me in the Leopard as soon as 
possible to Portsmouth. 

" All of my requests were cheerfully complied with, and 
in a few hours the Cyclops had sounded, and found the bot- 
tom at two thousand fathoms, and was on her way hack to 
Valentia with letters from me ; the Niagara and the Aga- 
memnon were connected together by the cable, and engaged 
in trying experiments ; the Susquehanna in attendance, and 

the Leopard, with your affectionate on board, on her 

way back to England. 

" In my letter to Dr. Whitehouse I requested him to tele- 
graph to London, and have a special meeting of the Directors 
called for twelve o'clock on Saturday, to decide whether we 
should have more cable made at once, and try again this 
season, or wait until next year. 

' ' I shall close this letter on board, so as to have it ready 
to mail the moment we arrive at Portsmouth, as I wish to 
leave by the very next train for London, so as to be there in 
time to meet the Directors Saturday noon, and read them my 
report, which I am busy making up. 

"Do not think that I feel discouraged, or am in low 
spirits, for I am not ; and I think I can see how this accident 



140 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

will be of great advantage to the Atlantic Telegraph Com- 
pany. 

"All the officers and men on board of the Telegraph 
Fleet, seem to take the greatest interest in our enterprise, 
and are very desirous to go out in the ships the next time. 

' ' Since my arrival, I have received the greatest kindness 
and attention from all whom I have met, from the Lord 
Lieutenant of Ireland, down to the cabin-boys and sailors. 
The inclosed letter from the Knight of Kerry, I received 
with a basket of hothouse fruit, just as we were getting 
ready to leave Valentia harbor. 

Your 

" Cyrus W. Field." 

The day that this was written, Mr. Field landed at 
Portsmouth, and at once hastened to London to meet 
the Directors. At first it was a question if they should 
renew the expedition this year. But their brief experi- 
ence had shown the need of more ample preparations 
for their next attempt. They required six hundred 
miles more of cable to make up for over three hundred 
lost in the sea, and to provide a surplus so as to run no 
risk of falling short from other accidents; and most 
of all they needed better machinery to pay out the 
cable into the ocean. These preparations required 
time, and before they could be made, it would be late 
m the autumn. Hence they reluctantly decided to 
defer the expedition till another year. The Niagara 
and the Agamemnon therefore discharged their cable 
at Plymouth, whence the Niagara returned home ; and 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1857. 141 

Mr. Field, after remaining a few weeks in London to 
complete the preparations for the next year, sailed for 
America. 

He returned to find that a commercial hurricane had 
swept over the country, in which a thousand stately 
fortunes had gone down, and in which the wealth he 
had accumulated by years of toil had nearly suffered 
shipwreck. Such were the tidings that met him on 
landing. It had been a year of disappointments in 
England and America — of disasters on land and sea— 
and all his high hopes were 

In the deep bosom of the ocean buried. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE FIRST EXPEDITION OF 1858. 

The expedition of 1857 was little more than an 
experiment on a grand scale. As such it had its use ; 
but its abrupt ending within three hundred miles of 
the Irish coast w^as a severe shock to public confidence. 
Up to that time the enterprise had been accepted by 
the people of England and of America, almost without 
considering its magnitude and difficulty. They had 
taken it for granted as a thing which must some day 
be accomplished by human skill and perseverance. 
But now it had been tried and failed. This first expe- 
dition opened their eyes to the vastness of the under- 
taking, and led many to doubt who did not doubt 
before. Some even began to look upon it as a roman- 
tic adventure of the sea, rather than a serious undertak- 
ing. This decline of popular faith was felt as soon as 
there was a call for more money. Men reasoned that 
if the former attempt was but an experiment, it was 
rather a costlv one. The loss of three hundred and 
thirty -five miles of cable, with the postponement of the 
expedition to another 3 7 ear, was equivalent to a loss of 
a hundred thousand pounds. To make this good, the 



THE FIRST EXPEDITION OF 1858. 143 

Directors had to enlarge the capital of the Company. 
This new capital was not so readily obtained. Those 
who had subscribed before, thought they had lost 
enough ; and the public stood aloof till they could see 
the result of the next experiment. The projectors 
found that it was easy to go with the current of popu- 
lar enthusiasm, but very hard to stem a growing pop- 
ular distrust. They found how great an element of 
success in all public enterprises is public confidence. 

But against this very revulsion of feeling they had 
been already warned. The Earl of Carlisle the year 
before had cautioned them against being too sanguine 
of immediate results, and reminded them that " prelim- 
inary failure was even the law and condition of ulti- 
mate success." There were many who now remem- 
bered his words, and on whom the lesson was not lost. 

But whatever the depression at the failure of the 
first attempt to lay a telegraph across the ocean, and 
at the thick-coming disasters on land and sea, it did 
not interfere with renewed and vigorous efforts to pre- 
pare for a second expedition. The Directors gave or- 
ders for the manufacture of seven hundred miles of 
new cable, to make up for the loss of the previous 
year, and to provide a surplus against all contingen- 
cies. And the Government promised again its power- 
ful aid. 

In America, Mr. Field went to ^Washington to ask 
a second time the use of the ships, which had already 



144 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

represented the country so well. He made also a spe- 
cial request for the services of Mr. William E. Everett. 
This gentleman had been the chief-engineer of the 
Niagara the year before. He had watched closely 
the paying-out machine, as it was put together on the 
deck, and as it worked on the voyage, and with the 
eye of a practised mechanic, he saw that it required 
great alterations. It was too cumbrous, had too many 
wheels, and especially its brakes shut down with a gripe 
that would snap the strongest chain cable.* Mr. Field 
saw that this was the man to remedy the defects of the 
old machine, and to make one that would work more 
smoothly. He therefore applied especially for his ser- 
vices. To the credit of the administration, it granted 
both requests in the most handsome manner. " There," 
said the Secretary of the Navy, handing Mr. Field the 
official letter, " I have given you all you asked." 

After such an answer he did not wait long. The 
letter is dated the thirtieth of December, and in just 
one week, on the sixth of January, he sailed in the 
Persia for England with Mr. Everett. Scarcely had 

* It should be said, however, in justice to Mr. Bright, that most of 
these defects he had himself perceived on seeing it in operation. On 
his return from the expedition of 1857, he sent in a report, pointing out 
the defects of the machinery, and how to remedy them. These sug- 
gestions were approved by the Scientific Committee, and carried out by 
Mr. Everett. The recognition of this fact, while it takes nothing from 
the practical skill shown by the American engineer, is but just to his 
predecessor, who, as the pioneer in this work, might easily fall into 
mistakes, which it needed only time and experience to correct. 






THE FIRST EXPEDITION OF 1858. 145 

he arrived in London before he was made the General 
Manager of the Company, with control of the entire 
staff, including electricians and engineers. The follow- 
ing extract from the minutes of the Board of Directors, 
dated January 27, 1858, explains the new position to 
which he was invited : 

"The Directors having for several months felt that it 
would greatly advance the interests of this enterprise, if Mr. 
Cyrus W. Field, of New York, could be induced to come 
over to England, for the purpose of undertaking the general 
management and supervision of all the various arrangements 
that would be required to be carried out before the sailing of 
the next expedition; application was made to Mr. Field, 
with the view of securing his consent to the proposal, and 
he arrived in this country on the sixteenth instant, when it 
was ascertained that he would be willing, if unanimously 
desired by the Directors, to act in behalf of the Company as 
proposed ; and Mr. Field having retired, it was unanimously 
resolved to tender him, in respect to such services, the sum 
of £1000 over and above his travelling and other expenses, 
as remuneration." 

This resolution was at once communicated to Mr. 
Field, who replied that he would undertake the duties 
of General Manager, but declined the offer of £1000, 
preferring to give his services to the Company without 
compensation. Whereupon the Directors immediately 
passed another resolution : 

"That Mr. Field's kind and generous offer be accepted 
by this Board ; and that their best thanks are hereby ten- 
10 



146 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

dered to him for his devotion to the interests of the 
undertaking. " 

The following, passed a few weeks later, March 26, 
was designed to emphasize the authority given over all 
the employes of the Company : 

"Resolved, That Mr. Cyrus W. Field, General Manager 
of the Company, is hereby authorized and empowered to 
give such directions and orders to the officers composing the 
staff of the Company, as he may from time to time deem 
necessary and expedient with regard to all matters connected 
with the lousiness proceedings of the Company, subject to 
the control of the Directors. 

"Resolved, That the staff of the Company be notified 
hereof, and required to observe and follow such directions 
as may be issued by the General Manager." 

As Mr. Field w x as thus invested with the entire 
charge of the preparations for the next expedition, he 
was made responsible for it, and felt it due alike to 
himself and to the Company to omit no means to 
insure success. It w r as therefore his duty to examine 
into every detail. The manufacture of the new cable 
was already under way, and there was no opportunity 
to make any change in its construction, even if any had 
been desired. But there was another matter wdiich 
was quite as important to success — the construction of 
the paying-out machines. This had been the great 
defect of the previous year, and, w^hile it continued, 
would render success almost impossible. No matter 



THE FIRST EXPEDITION OF 1858. 14? 

how many hundreds or thousands of miles of cable 
might be made, if the machinery was not fitted to pay 
it out into the sea, it would be constantly broken. To 
remedy these defects was an object of anxious solici- 
tude, and to this the new manager gave his first atten- 
tion. Hardly was he in London before Mr. Everett 
was installed at the lar^e machine works of Easton and 
Amos, in South wark, where, surrounded by plans and 
models, he devoted himself for three months to study- 
ing out a better invention for this most important 
work. At the end of that time he had a model com- 
plete, and invited a number of the most eminent engi- 
neers of London to witness its operation. Among 
these were Mr. Brunei, and Messrs. Lloyd, Penn, and 
Field, who had given the enterprise the benefit of their 
counsel for months, refusing all compensation; Mr. 
Charles T. Bright, the engineer of the Company, and 
his two assistants, Mr. Canning and Mr. Clifford, and 
Mr. Follansbee, the chief-engineer of the Niagara, in 
the place Mr. Everett had occupied the year before. 
The machine was set in motion, and all saw its opera- 
tion, while Mr. Everett explained its parts, and the 
difficulties which he had tried to overcome. It was 
obvious at a glance that it was a great improvement 
on that of the former year. It was much smaller and 
lighter. It would take up only about one-third of the 
room on the deck, and had only one-fourth the weight 
of the old machine. Its construction was much more 



148 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

simple. Instead of four heavy wheels, it had but two, 
and these were made to revolve with ease, and without 
danger of sudden check, by the application of what 
were known as self-releasing brakes. These were the 
invention of Mr. Appolcl, of London, a gentleman of 
fortune, but with a strong taste for mechanics, which 
led him to spend his time and wealth in exercising his 
mechanical ingenuity. These brakes w r ere so adjusted 
as to bear only a certain strain, when they released 
themselves. This ingenious contrivance was applied 
by Mr. Everett to the paying-out machinery. The 
strength of the cable was such that it would not 
break except under a tension of a little over three 
tons. The machinery was so adjusted that not more 
than half that strain could possibly come upon the 
cable, w r hen the brakes would relax their grasp, the 
wheels revolve easily, and the cable run out into the sea 
without a jar. The paying-out machine, therefore, w r e 
are far from claiming as wholly an American invention. 
This part of the mechanism was English. The merit 
of Mr. Everett lay in the skill with which he adapted 
it to the laying of the Atlantic cable, and in his 
improvements of other parts of the machinery. The 
whole construction, as it afterwards stood upon the 
decks of the Niagara and the Agamemnon, was the 
product of English and American invention combined. 
The engineers, who now saw it for the first time, were 
delighted. It seemed to have the intelligence of a 



THE FIRST EXPEDITION OF 1858. 149 

human being, to know when to hold on, and when to 
let go. All felt that the great difficulty in laying the 
cable was removed, and that under this gentle manipu- 
lation it would glide easily and smoothly from the ship 
into the sea. 

While these preparations were going on in London, 
the Niagara, which did not leave New York till the 
ninth of March, arrived at Plymouth, under command 
of Captain Hudson, to take on board her share of the 
cable. Both ships had discharged their burden at 
Key ham Docks, where the precious freight was passed 
through a composition of tar and pitch and linseed-oil 
and beeswax, to preserve it from injury, and had been 
coiled under cover to be kept safely through the win- 
ter. The Agamemnon was already at Plymouth, hav- 
ing been designated by the Admiralty again to take 
part in the work, though under a new commander, 
Captain George W. Preedy, an excellent officer. The 
place of the Leopard was taken by the Gorgon, under 
command of Captain Dayman, who had made the 
deep-sea soundings in the Cyclops the year before. 

While the English Government was thus prompt in 
furnishing its ships, news arrived from America that 
the Company could not have again the assistance of 
the Susquehanna, which had accompanied the Niagara 
on the preceding expedition. She was in the West- 
Indies, and the yellow fever had broken out on board. 
What should be done ? It was late to apply again to 



150 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

the American Government, and it was doubtful what 
would be the result of the application. This threatened 
some embarrassment. Mr. Field resolved the difficulty 
in a way which showed his confidence in the great and 
generous Government on the other side of the water, 
with which he had occasion so often to deal. Without 
waiting for the action of the Company, he called a cab, 
and drove straight to the Admiralty, and sent in his 
card to Sir John Pakington, then First Lord of the 
Admiralty. This gentleman, like his predecessor, Sir 
Charles Wood, had shown the most friendly interest 
in the Atlantic Telegraph, and given it his warmest 
support. Mr. Field was received at once, and began 
with true American eagerness : " I am ashamed to 
come to you, after what the English Government has 
done for us. But here is our case. We are disap- 
pointed in the Susquehanna. She is in the West-Indies, 
with the yellow fever on board. She cannot come to 
England to take part in the expedition. Can you do 
anything for us ?" Sir John replied that the Govern- 
ment had not ships enough for its own use ; that it was 
at that very moment chartering vessels to take troops 
to Malta — " but he would see what he could do." In 
an hour or two he sent word to the office of the Com- 
pany, that Her Majesty's ship Valorous — commanded 
by Captain W. C. Aldham, an officer of great experi- 
ence — had been ordered to take the place of the Sus- 
quehanna in the next expedition. We mention this 



THE FIRST EXPEDITION OF 1858. 151 

little incident, not so much to illustrate Mr. Field's 
prompt and quick manner of deciding and acting, as 
to show the noble and generous spirit in which the 
English Government responded to every appeal. 

The reshipping of the cable at Plymouth occupied 
the whole month of April and part of May. Some 
changes were made in the mode adopted, it being 
coiled around large cones. The work was done as 
before, bv a hundred and sixtv men detailed for the 
purpose, of whom one fourth were the workmen of 
the Company, and the rest sailors who had volunteered 
for the duty. These were divided into gangs of forty, 
that relieved each other, by which the work went on 
day and night. In this way they coiled about thirty 
miles in the twenty-four hours. Owing to the in- 
creased length of cable, and the greater care in coiling, 
it took a longer time than the year before. The whole 
was completed about the middle of May. There was 
then in all, on board the two ships, a little over three 
thousand statute miles. This included, besides seven 
hundred miles of new cable, thirty-nine miles of that 
lost the year before, which had been recovered by the 
Company, and a few miles of condemned cable from 
Greenwich, which was put on board for experiments. 
The shipment being thus complete, and the paying-out 
machines in position, the ships were ready to make a 
trial trip, preparatory to their final departure. 

For this purpose the telegraphic squadron sailed 



152 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

from Plymouth on Saturday, the twenty-ninth of May, 
and bore southward two or three hundred miles, till 
the green color of the sea changing to a deep blue, 
showed that they had reached the great depths of the 
ocean. They were now in the waters of the Bay of 
Biscay, where the soundings were over twenty-five 
hundred fathoms. Here the Niagara and the Agamem- 
non were connected by a hawser, being about a quar- 
ter of a mile apart. The cable was then passed from 
one to the other, and a series of experiments begun, 
designed to test both the strength of the cable and the 
working of the machinery. Two miles of the cable 
were paid out, when it parted. This would have 
seemed a bad sign, had it been any other part of the 
cable than that which was known to be imperfect and 
had long since been condemned. The next day three 
miles were paid out. This, too, was broken, but only 
when they tried to haul it in, and under a pressure of 
several tons. 

Other experiments were tried, such as splicing the 
cable, and lowering it to the bottom of the sea — an 
operation which it was thought might be critical in 
mid-ocean, but which was performed without difficulty 
— and running out the cable at a rapid rate, Avhen the 
speed of the ship was increased to seven knots, without 
causing the cable to break, or even to kink. On the 
whole, the result of the trip was satisfactory. The 
paying-out machine of Mr. Everett worked well, and 



THE FIRST EXPEDITION OF 1858. 153 

the electric continuity through the whole cable was 
perfect. It was on this expedition that was used for 
the first time the marine mirror galvanometer of Pro- 
fessor Thomson, by whom it had been invented for 
marine testing within the previous four weeks, and 
which afterwards proved an instrument so important 
to the success of ocean telegraphy. After these ex- 
periments the squadron returned to Plymouth. 

As it happened, the present writer had just arrived 
in England, and landing at Falmouth, hastened to 
Plymouth, w T here the ships were lying in the Sound. 
It was Saturday, the fifth of June, and the next 
day, by invitation of Captain Hudson, he conducted 
Divine service on the Niagara, where an awning was 
spread over the quarter-deck, round which were grouped 
the officers of the ship, behind whom were crowded 
four or five hundred seamen. If it was a pleasure in 
such circumstances to speak to one's countrymen, it 
was not less to be received with equal kindness on 
board the Agamemnon. To see these two mighty 
ships of war, with their consorts, lying side by side, 
not with guns run out, but engaged in a mission of 
peace, seemed indeed an omen of the good time com- 
ing, when nations shall learn war no more. 

Among the matters of personal solicitude and anxi- 
ety at this time— next to the success of the expedition 
— was Mr. Field himself. He was working with an 
activity which was unnatural — which could only be 



154 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

kept up by great excitement, and which involved the 
most serious danger. The strain on the man was 
more than the strain on the cable, and we were in fear 
that both would break together. Often he had no 
sleep, except such as he caught flying on the railway. 
Indeed, when we remonstrated, he said he could rest 
better there than anywhere else, for then he was not 
tormented with the thought of any thing undone. 
For the time being he could do no more ; and putting 
his head in the cushioned corner of the carriage, he 
got an hour or two of broken sleep. 

Of this activity we had an instance while in Plym- 
outh. The ships were then lying in the Sound, only 
waiting orders from the Admiralty to go to sea ; but 
some business required one of the Directors to go to 
Paris, and as usual, it fell upon Mr. Field. He left on 
Sunday night and. went to Bristol, and thence, by the 
first morning train, to London. Monday he was busy 
all day, and that night went to Paris. Tuesday, another 
busy day, and that night back to London. Wednes- 
day, occupied everj r minute till the departure of the 
Great Western train. That night back to Plymouth. 
Thursday morning on board the Niagara, and imme- 
diately the squadron sailed. 

It was the tenth day of June that the expedition left 
England, with fair skies and bright prospects. In 
truth, it was a gallant sight, as these four ships stood 
out to sea together — those old companions, the Ni- 



THE FIRST EXPEDITION OP 1858. 155 

agara and the Agamemnon, leading the way, followed 
by their new attendants, the Valorous and the Gor- 
gon. Never did a voyage begin with better omens. 
The day w r as one of the mildest of June, and the sea 
so still, that one could scarcely perceive, by the motion 
of the ship, when they passed beyond the breakwater 
off Plymouth harbor into the Channel, or into the open 
sea. At night, it was almost a dead calm. The sec- 
ond day w r as like the first. There was scarcely wind 
enough to swell the sails. The ships were all in sight, 
and as they kept under easy steam, they seemed bound 
on a voyage of pleasure, gliding over a summer sea to 
certain success. 

It had been supposed that the expedition of this 
year would have a great advantage over the last, from 
sailing two months earlier, at what was considered a 
more favorable season. So said all the wise men of 
the sea. They had given their opinion that June was 
the best month for crossing the Atlantic. Then they 
w r ere almost sure of fair weather. The first three days 
of the voyage confirmed these predictions, and they 
who had made them, being found true prophets, shook 
their heads with great satisfaction. 

But alas ! for the vanity of human expectations, or 
for those who put trust in the treacherous sea. On 
Sunday it began to blow. The barometer fell, and all 
signs indicated to the eye of a seaman rough weather. 
From this time they had a succession of gales for more 



156 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

than a week. From day to clay it blew fiercer than 
before, till Sunday, the twentieth, when the gale was 
at its height, and the -spirit of the storm was out on 
the Atlantic. Up to this time the Niagara and the 
Agamemnon (though they had long since parted from 
the Valorous and the Gorgon) had managed to keep 
in sight of each other ; and now from the deck of the 
former the latter was seen a mile and a half distant, 
rolling heavily in the sea. The signals which she 
made showed that she was struggling with the fury of 
the gale. She w T as really in great danger of founder- 
ing. But this was owing, not merely to the severity 
of the gale, but to the enormous weight she carried, 
and to the way this huge bulk was stowed in the ship. 
Only a few days before we had been on board of 
her, and Captain Preedy showed us, in one coil, thir- 
teen hundred miles of cable ! This made a dead 
weight of as many hundred tons, which rendered her 
in rough weather almost unmanageable. To make the 
matter worse, she had another coil of about two hun- 
dred and fifty tons on the forward deck, where it 
made the head of the ship heavy. In her tremendous 
rolls, this coil broke loose, and threatened at a time to 
dash like an avalanche through the side of the ship. 
But at the most fearful moments the gallant seaman 
in command never lost his presence of mind. He was 
always on deck, watching with a vigilant eye the 
raging of the tempest, and issuing his orders with 



THE FIRST EXPEDITION OF 1858. 157 

coolness and prompt decision. To this admirable skill 
was due the safety of the ship, and of all on board.* 

But all things have an end ; and this long gale at 
last blew itself out, and the weary ocean rocked itself 
to rest. Toward the last of the week the squadron 
got together at the appointed rendezvous in mid-ocean. 
As the ships came in sight, the angry sea went down ; 
and on Friday, June twenty-fifth, just fifteen days 
from Plymouth, they were all together, as tranquil in 
the middle of the Atlantic as if in Plymouth Sound. 
"This evening the four vessels lay together, side by 
side, and there was such a stillness in the sea and air, 
as would have seemed remarkable in an inland lake ; 
on the Atlantic, and after what we had all so lately 
witnessed, it seemed almost unnatural." The boats 
were out, and the officers w r ere passing from ship to 
ship, telling their experiences of the voyage, and form- 
ing their plans for the morrow. Captains Aldham 
and Dayman said it was the worst weather they had 
ever experienced in the North- Atlantic. But it was 
the Agamemnon that suffered most. The rough sea 

* As there is no trouble without a compensation, it is something that 
this voyage, fearful as it was, furnished a subject for a description of 
marvellous power. The letter to the London Times, written by Mr. 
Woods, its correspondent on board the Agamemnon, is one of the finest 
descriptions of a storm at sea we know of in the language. It is a won- 
derful specimen of " word-painting," and brings the scene before us 
with a vividness like that of the marine paintings of Stanfield or 
Turner. 



158 STORY OP THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

had shaken not only the ship, but the cable in her. 
The upper part of the main coil had shifted, and 
become so twisted and tangled, that a hundred miles 
had to be got out and coiled in another part of the 
ship, so that it was not till the afternoon of Saturday, 
the twenty-sixth, that the splice was finally made, and 
the cable lowered to the bottom of the sea. The ships 
were then got under way, but had not gone three 
miles, before the cable broke, being caught, in the ma- 
chinery on board the Niagara. It was fortunate they 
had gone no farther. Both ships at once turned about 
and spliced again the same afternoon, and made a fresh 
start. Now all went well. The paying-out machines 
worked smoothly, and the cable ran off easily into the 
sea. Thus each ship had paid out about forty miles 
w 7 hen suddenly the current ceased ! 

Says the writer on the Agamemnon : " At half-past 
three o'clock [Sunday morning] forty miles had gone, 
and nothing could be more perfect and regular than 
the working of every thing, when suddenly Professor 
Thomson came on deck, and reported a total break 
of continuity ; that the cable in fact had parted, and, 
as was believed at the time, from the Niagara. In 
another instant a gun and a blue-light warned the 
Yalorous of what had happened, and roused all on 
board the Agamemnon to a knowledge that the ma- 
chinery was silent, and that the first part of the 
Atlantic Cable had been laid and lost effectually." 



THE FIRST EXPEDITION OP 1858. 159 

This was disheartening, but not so much from the 
fact of a fresh breaking of the cable, as from the mys- 
tery as to its cause. The fact, of course, was known 
instantly on both ships, but the cause was unknown. 
Those on each ship supposed it had occurred on the 
other. With this impression they turned about to 
beat up again toward the rendezvous. It was noon 
of Monday, the twenty-eighth, before the Agamemnon 
rejoined the Niagara ; and then, says the writer : 

" While all were waiting" with impatience for her expla- 
nation of how they broke the cable, she electrified every one 
by running up the interrogatory : ' How did the cable part ? ' 
This was astounding. As soon as the boats could be low- 
ered, Mr. Cyrus Field, with the electricians from the Niag- 
ara, came on board, and a comparison of logs showed the 
painful and mysterious fact that, at the same second of time, 
each vessel discovered that a total fracture had taken place 
at a distance of certainly not less than ten miles from each 
ship ; in fact, as well as can be judged, at the bottom of the 
ocean. That of all the many mishaps connected with the 
Atlantic Telegraph, this is the worst and most disheartening 
is certain, since it proves that, after all that human skill and 
science can effect to lay the wire down with safety has been 
accomplished, there may be some fatal obstacles to success 
at the bottom of the ocean, which can never be guarded 
against; for even the nature of the peril must alw r ays remain 
as secret and unknown as the depths in which it is to be 
encountered." 

But it was no time for useless regrets. Once more 
the cable was joined in mid-ocean, and dropped to its 



160 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

silent bed, and the Niagara and the Agamemnon be- 
gan to steam away toward opposite shores of the 
Atlantic. This time the experiment succeeded better 
than before. The progress of the English ship is thus 
reported : 

' ' At first, the ship's speed was only two knots, the cable 
going three and three and a half, with a strain of fifteen 
hundred pounds. By and by, however, the speed was in- 
creased to four knots, the cable going five, at a strain of two 
thousand pounds. At this rate it was kept, with trifling 
variations, throughout almost the whole of Monday night, 
and neither Mr. Bright, Mr. Canning, nor Mr. Clifford ever 
quitted the machines for an instant. Toward the middle of 
the night, while the rate of the ship continued the same, the 
speed at which the cable paid out slackened nearly a knot 
an hour, while the dynamometer indicated as low as thirteen 
hundred pounds. This change could only be accounted for 
on the supposition that the water had shallowed to a consid- 
erable extent, and that the vessel was, in fact, passing over 
some submarine Ben Nevis or Skiddaw. After an interval 
of about an hour, the strain and rate of progress of the cable 
again increased, while the increase of the vertical angle 
seemed to indicate that the wire was sinking down the side 
of a declivity. Beyond this, there was no variation through- 
out Monday night, or, indeed, through Tuesday." 

On board the Niagara was the same scene of anx- 
ious watching every hour of the day and night. Engi- 
neers and electricians were constantly on duty : 

" The scene at night was beautiful. Scarcely a word was 
spoken ; silence was commanded, and no conversation 



THE FIRST EXPEDITION OF 1858. 161 

allowed. Nothing* was heard but the strange rattling of the 
machine as the cable was running out. The lights about 
deck and in the quarter-deck circle added to the singularity 
of the spectacle ; and those who were on board the ship de- 
scribe the state of anxious suspense in which all were held 
as exceedingly impressive." 

Warned by repeated failures, they hardly dared to 
hope for success in this last experiment. And yet the 
spirits of all rose, as the distance widened between the 
ships. A hundred miles were laid safely — a hundred 
and fifty — two hundred ! Why might they not lay 
two thousand ? So reasoned the sanguine and hopeful 
when, Tuesday night, came the fatal announcement 
that the electric current had ceased to flow. It after- 
ward appeared that the cable had broken about twenty 
feet from the stern of the Agamemnon. 

As the cable was now useless, it only remained to 

cut it from the stern of the Niagara. Before doing 

this, it was thought a good opportunity to test its 

strength. For this purpose the brakes were shut 

down, so that the paying-out machine could not move. 

But still the cable did not break, although the whole 

weight of the Niagara hung upon that slender cord, 

and though several men got upon the brakes. Says 

Captain Hudson : "Although the wind was quite fresh, 

the cable held the ship for one hour and forty minutes 

before breaking, and notwithstanding a strain of four 

tons." 

11 



162 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

Though not unexpected, this last breaking of the 
cable was a sad blow to all on board. It was the end 
of their hopes, at least for the present expedition. 
Before separating, it had been agreed, that if the cable 
should part again before either ship had run a hun- 
dred miles, they should return and renew the attempt. 
If they had passed that limit, they were all to sail for 
Ireland. But the Niagara had run out a hundred and 
eleven miles, and knowing that the Agamemnon had 
done about the same, she expected the latter would 
keep on her course eastward, not stopping till she 
reached Queenstown. The Niagara, therefore, reluc- 
tantly bore away for the same port. 

Of course, the return vovage was "any thing- but 
gay." When soldiers come home from the war, they 
march with a proud step, if they have had a victorious 
campaign. But it is otherwise when they come with 
a sad tale of disaster and defeat. Seldom had an ex- 
pedition begun with higher hopes, or ended in more 
complete failure. Who could help feeling keenly this 
fresh disappointment ? Even with all the courage 
" that may become a man," heightened by a natural 
buoyancy of spirits, how was it possible to resist the 
impression of the facts they had just witnessed ? If — 
as Lord Carlisle had told them the year before — " there 
was almost enough of glory in the very design of an 
Atlantic telegraph," that glory might still be theirs. 
But apparently they could hope for nothing more. 



THE FIRST EXPEDITION OF 1858. 163 

They had done Sill that men could do. But fate 
seemed against them ; and who can fight against des- 
tiny ? No one can blame them if they sometimes had 
sore misgivings, and looked out sadly upon the sea that 
had baffled their utmost skill, and now laughed their 
efforts to scorn. 

In this mood they entered once more the harbor of 
Queenstown. The Niagara was the first to arrive and 
to bring tidings of the great disaster. The Agamem- 
non came in a few days after. Knowing the fatal im- 
pression their report was likely to produce, Mr. Field 
hastened to London to meet the Directors. It was 
high time. The news had reached there before him, 
and had already produced its effect. Under its im- 
pression the Board was called together. It met in 
the same room where, six weeks before, it had dis- 
cussed the prospects of the expedition with full con- 
fidence of success. Now it met, as a council of war is 
summoned after a terrible defeat, to decide whether 
to surrender or to try once more the chances of battle. 
When the Directors came together, the feeling — to 
call it by the mildest name — was one of extreme dis- 
couragement. They looked blankly in each other's 
faces. With some, the feeling was one almost of 
despair. Sir William Brown, of Liverpool, the first 
Chairman, wrote, advising them to sell the cable. Mr. 
Brooking, the Yice-Chairman, who had given more 
time to it than anv other Director, when he saw 



164 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

that his colleagues were disposed "to make still an- 
other trial, left the room, and the next da)^ sent in 
his resignation, determined to take no further part in 
an undertaking which had been proved hopeless, and 
to persist in which seemed mere rashness and folly. 

But others thought there was still a chance. Like 
Kobert Bruce, who, after twelve battles and twelve 
defeats, yet believed that a thirteenth might bring vic- 
tory, they clung to this bare possibility. Mr. Field 
and Professor Thomson gave the results of their ex- 
perience, from which it appeared that there was no 
obstacle in the nature of the case which might not be 
overcome. Mr. Bright and Mr. Woodhouse joined 
with them in advising strongly that they should re- 
new the attempt. To be sure, it was a forlorn hope. 
But the ships were there. Though they had lost three 
hundred miles of cable, they had still enough on 
board to cross the sea. These arguments prevailed, 
and it was voted to make one more trial before 
the project was finally abandoned. Even though the 
chances were a hundred to one against them, that one 
might bring them success. And so it proved. But 
was it their own wisdom or courage that got them 
the victory, or were they led by that Being whose 
way is in the sea, and whose path is in the great 
waters ? 



CHAPTER X. 

THE SECOND EXPEDITION SUCCESSFUL. 

A bold decision needs to be followed by prompt 
action, lest the spirit that inspired it be weakened by 
delay. When once it had been fixed that there was to 
be another attempt to lay the Atlantic cable, no time 
was lost in carrying the resolve into execution. The 
telegraphic fleet was lying at Queenstown. The Niag- 
ara had arrived on the fifth of July, but the Agamem- 
non, which, through some misunderstanding, had 
returned to the rendezvous in mid-ocean, thus cross- 
ing the Niagara on her track, did not get in till a 
week later. However, all were now there, safe and 
sound, and Mr. Field and Mr. Samuel Gurney went 
to the Admiralty, and got an order which they tele- 
graphed to the ships to get ready immediately to go 
to sea. Not an hour was lost. They had barely time 
to take in coal and other supplies for the voyage. Mr. 
Field hastened from England, and Prof. Thomson 
from his home in Scotland, and in five days the 
squadron was under way, bound once more for the 
middle of the Atlantic. 

It was Saturday, the seventeenth of July, that the 



166 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

ships left on their second expedition. As they sailed 
out of the Cove of Cork, it was with none of the en- 
thusiasm which attended their departure from Valen- 
tia the year before, or even from Plymouth on the 
tenth of June. Nobody cheered ; nobody bade them 
God-speecl. " As the ships left the harbor, there was 
apparently no notice taken of their departure by those 
on shore, or in the vessels anchored around them ; 
every one seemed impressed with the conviction that 
they were engaged in a hopeless enterprise, and the 
squadron seemed rather to have slunk away on some 
discreditable mission, than to have sailed for the ac- 
complishment of a grand national scheme." Many 
even of those on board felt that they were going on 
a fool's errand ; that the Company was possessed by a 
kind of insanity, of which they would soon be cured 
by another bitter experience. 

On leaving this second time, it was agreed that the 
squadron should not try to keep together, but each 
ship make its way to the given latitude and longi- 
tude which was the appointed rendezvous in mid-ocean. 
The Niagara, being the largest, and able to carry the 
most coal, kept under steam the whole way, and ar- 
rived first, and waited several days for the other ships 
to appear. The Valorous came next, and then the 
Gorgon, and, last of all, the Agamemnon, which had 
been saving; her coal for the return voyage, and had 
been delayed for want of a little of that wind which, 



THE SECOND EXPEDITION SUCCESSFUL. 167 

in the former expedition, she had had in too great abun- 
ance. Says the English correspondent on board : 

"For several days in succession there was an uninter- 
rupted calm. The moon was just at the full, and for several 
nig-hts it shone with a brilliancy which turned the sea into 
one silvery sheet, which brought out the dark hull and 
white sails of the ship in strong contrast to the sea and sky, 
as the vessel lay all but motionless on the water, the very 
impersonation of solitude and repose. Indeed, until the 
rendezvous was gained, we had such a succession of beau- 
tiful sunrises, gorgeous sunsets, and tranquil moonlight 
nights, as would have excited the most enthusiastic admira- 
tion of any one but persons situated as we were. But by us 
such scenes w r ere regarded only as the annoying indications 
of the calm, which delayed our progress and wasted our coal. 
By dint, however, of a judicious expenditure of fuel, and a 
liberal use of the cheaper motive power of sail, the rendez- 
vous was reached on Wednesday, the tw^enty-eighth of July, 
just eleven days after our departure from Queenstown. The 
rest of the squadron came in sight at nightfall, but at such 
a distance that it was past ten o'clock on the morning of 
Thursday, the twenty-ninth, before the Agamemnon joined 
them. 

4 ' The day was beautifully calm, so no time was to be lost 
before making the splice ; boats were soon lowered from the 
attendant ships, the two vessels made fast by a hawser, and 
the Niagara's end of the cable conveyed on board the Aga- 
memnon. About half-past twelve o'clock the splice was 
effectually made. In hoisting it out from the side of the ship 
the leaden sinker broke short off and fell overboard ; and 
there being no more convenient w^eio'ht at hand, a thirty-two 



168 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

pound shot was fastened to the splice instead, and the whole 
apparatus was quickly dropped into the sea without any 
formality, and indeed almost without a spectator, for those 
on board the ship had witnessed so many beginnings to the 
telegraphic line, that it was evident they despaired of there 
ever being an end to it. The stipulated two hundred and 
ten fathoms having been paid out, the signal to start was 
hoisted, the hawser cast loose, and the Niagara and Aga- 
memnon started for the last time for their opposite desti- 
nations." 

At this moment the ships were nearly in mid-ocean, 
but not exactly. Mr. Field, who never indulged in 
poetical descriptions, but always gave the figures, 
stating the precise latitude and longitude, and from 
what quarter the wind blew, and how many fath- 
oms deep the ocean was, and how many miles of cable 
were on board, made the following entry in his jour- 
nal : 

" Thursday, July twenty-ninth, latitude fifty-two degrees 
nine minutes north, longitude thirty-two degrees twenty- 
seven minutes west. Telegraph Fleet all in sight ; sea 
smooth; light wind from S.E. to S.S.E. ; cloudy. Splice 
made at one P.M. Signals through the whole length of the 
cable on board both ships perfect. Depth of water fifteen 
hundred fathoms ; distance to the entrance of Valentia har- 
bor eight hundred and thirteen nautical miles, and from 
there to the telegraph-house the shore end of the cable is 
laid. Distance to the entrance of Trinity Bay, Newfound- 
land, eight hundred and twenty-two nautical miles, and from 
there to the telegraph -house at the head of the bay of Bull's 



THE SECOND EXPEDITION SUCCESSFUL. 169 

Arm, sixty miles, making" in all eight hundred and eighty- 
two nautical miles. The Niagara has sixty-nine miles fur- 
ther to run than the Agamemnon. The Niagara and Aga- 
memnon have each eleven hundred nautical miles of cable 
on board, about the same quantity as last year." 

And now, as the ships are fairly apart, and will soon 
lose sight of each other, we w r ill leave the Agamemnon 
for the present to pursue her course toward Ireland, 
while we follow our own Niagara to the shores of the 
New World. At first of course, w T hile all hoped for 
success, no one dared to expect it. They said after- 
wards that " Mr. Field was the only man on board 
who kept up his courage through it all." But the 
chances seemed many to one against them ; and the 
warnings were frequent to excite their fears. That 
very evening, about sunset, all again seemed lost. We 
quote from Mr. Field's journal : " At forty-five min- 
utes past seven p.m., ship's time, signals from the Aga- 
memnon ceased, and the tests applied by the electri- 
cians showed that there was a want of continuity in 
the cable, but the insulation was perfect. Kept on 
paying out from the Niagara very slowly, and con- 
stantly applying all kinds of electrical tests until ten 
minutes past nine, ship's time, when again commenced 
receiving perfect signals from the Agamemnon." At 
the same moment the English ship had the same relief 
from anxiety. 

The next day there was a fresh cause of alarm. It 



170 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

was found that the Niagara had run some miles out of 
her course. Comparing the distance run by observa- 
tion and by patent log, there was a difference of six- 
teen miles and a third. "With such a percentage of loss, 
the cable would not hold out to reach Newfoundland. 
This was alarming, but it was soon explained. The 
mass, of iron in the ship had affected the compass, so 
that it no longer pointed to the right quarter of the 
heavens. Had the Niagara been alone on the ocean, 
this might have caused serious trouble. But now ap- 
peared the great advantage of an attendant ship. It 
was at once arranged that the Gorgon should go ahead 
and lead the way. As she had no cable on board, her 
compasses were subject to no deviation. Accordingly 
she took her position in the advance, keeping the line 
along the great circle arc, which was the prescribed 
route. From that moment there was no variation, or 
but a very slight one. The two methods of comput- 
ing the distance — by log and by observation — nearly 
coincided, and the ship varied scarcely a mile from 
her course till she entered Trinity Bay. 

It is not necessary to follow the whole voyage, for 
the record is the same from dav to dav. It is the 
same sleepless watching of the cable as it runs out day 
and night, and the same anxious estimate of the dis- 
tance that still separates them from land. Communi- 
cation is kept up constantly between the ships. Mr. 
Field's journal contains entries like these : 



SECOND EXPEDITION SUCCESSFUL. 171 

" Saturday, July thirty-first. By eleven o'clock had paid 
out from the Niagara three hundred miles of cable ; at forty- 
five minutes past two received signals from the Agamemnon 
that they had paid out from her three hundred miles of 
cable ; at thirty -seven minutes past five finished coil on the 
berth-deck, and commenced paying out from the lower 
deck." 

1 ' Monday, August second. The Niagara getting light, 
and rolling very much ; it was not considered safe to carry 
sail to steady ship, for in case of accident it might be neces- 
sary to stop the vessel as soon as possible. Passed and sig- 
nalled the Cunard steamer from Boston to Liverpool." Same 
day about noon, ''imperfect insulation of cable detected in 
sending and receiving signals from the Agamemnon, which 
continued until forty minutes past five, when all was right 
again. The fault was found to be in the ward-room, about 
sixty miles from the lower end, which was immediately cut 
out, and taken out of the circuit." 

- Tuesday, August third. At a quarter-past eleven, ship's 
time, received signals from on board the Agamemnon, that 
they had paid out from her seven hundred and eighty miles 
of cable. In the afternoon and evening passed several ice- 
bergs. At ten minutes past nine P.M., ship's time, received 
signal from the Agamemnon that she was in water of two 
hundred fathoms. At twenty minutes past ten p.m., ship's 
time, Niagara in water of two hundred fathoms, and informed 
the Agamemnon of the same. 

' ' Wednesday, August fourth. Depth of water less than 
two hundred fathoms. Weather beautiful, perfectly calm. 
Gorgon in sight. Sixty-four miles from the telegraph-house. 
Received signal from Agamemnon at noon that they had 
paid out from her nine hundred and forty miles of cable. 



172 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

Passed this morning several icebergs. Made the land off 
entrance to Trinity Bay at eight a.m. Entered Trinity Bay 
at half -past twelve. At half-past two, we stopped sending 
signals to Agamemnon for fourteen minutes, for the purpose 
of making splice. At five P.M. saw Her Majesty's steamer 
Porcupine [which had been sent by the British Government 
to Newfoundland, to watch for the telegraph ships] coming 
to us. At half-past seven, Captain Otter, of the Porcupine, 
came on board of the Niagara to pilot us to the anchorage, 
near the telegraph-house.* 

* The spot chosen as the terminus of the Atlantic cable, with the 
views around it — both on the water and on land — is thus described by a 
correspondent : 

" All who have visited Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, with one consent 
allow it to be one of the most beautiful sheets of water they ever set 
eyes upon. Its color is very peculiar — an inexpressible mingling of the 
pure blue ocean with the deep evergreen woodlands and the serene blue 
sky. Its extreme length is about eighty miles, its breadth about thirty 
miles, opening boldly into the Atlantic on the northern side of the 
island. At its south-western shore it branches into the Bay of Bull's 
Arm, which is a quiet, safe, and beautiful harbor, about two miles in 
breadth, and nine or ten in length, running in a direction north-west. 

"The depth of water is sufficient for the largest vessels. The tide 
rises seven or eight feet, and the bay terminates in a beautiful sand- 
beach. The shore is clothed with dark green fir-trees, which, mixed 
with birch and mountain-ash, present a pleasing contrast. The land 
rises gradually from the water all around, so as to afford one of the most 
agreeable town sites in the island. You ascend only about a quarter of 
a mile from the water, and there are no longer trees, but wild grass like 
an open prairie. Here are found at this season myriads of the upland 
cranberries, upon which unnumbered ptarmigan, or the northern par- 
tridge, feed. 

" The raspberry, bake-apple berry, and the whortleberry are also 
common. Numerous little lakes may be seen in the open, elevated 
ground, from which flow rivulets, affording abundance of fine trout. 



SECOND EXPEDITION SUCCESSFUL. 173 

" Thursday, August fifth. At forty-five minutes past one 
A.M., Niagara anchored. Total amount of cable paid out 
since splice was made, ten hundred and sixteen miles, six 
hundred fathoms. Total amount of distance, eight hundred 
and eighty-two miles. Amount of cable paid out over dis- 
tance run, one hundred and thirty-four miles, six hundred 
fathoms, being a surplus of about fifteen per cent. At two 
a.m., I went ashore in a small boat, and awoke persons in 
charge of the telegraph-house, haif a mile from landing, and 
informed them that the Telegraph Fleet had arrived, and 
were ready to land the end of the cable. At forty-five min- 
utes past two, received signal from the Agamemnon that 
she had paid out ten hundred and ten miles of cable. At 

After ascending for about a mile and a half, you are then probably 
three hundred or four hundred feet above the tide, and nothing can 
exceed the beauty of the scene when, at one view, you behold the 
placid waters of both Trinity and Placentia Bays — the latter sprinkled 
with clusters of verdant islands. 

" You can now descend westward as gradually as you came up from 
the Telegraph landing, to the shores of Placentia Bay, where there is an 
excellent harbor and admirable fisheries, skirting the shore, and the 
accompanying road of the land Telegraph line leading from St. John's 
westward through the island, to Cape Ray. At this season of the year 
game is very abundant. Reindeer in great numbers, bears, wolves — 
others very numerous, the large northern hare, foxes, wild geese, 
ducks, etc. 

" About four miles southward of the entrance of the bay of Bull's 
Arm, on the shore of Placentia Bay, is situated the extraordinary La 
Manche lead mine, the property of the Telegraph Company, already 
yielding a rich supply of remarkably pure galena. The place where 
the cable is landed is memorable in the history of the island as the 
naval battle-ground between the French and English in their early 
struggle for the exclusive occupancy of the valuable fisheries along the 
coast." 



174 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

four a.m., delivered telegraphic despatch for the Associated 
Press, to be forwarded to New York as early in the morning 
as the offices of the line were open. 

" At a quarter-past five a.m., telegraph cable landed. At 
six, end of cable carried into telegraph-house, and received 
very strong currents of electricity through the whole cable 
from the other side of the Atlantic. Captain Hudson, of the 
Niagara, then read prayers, and made some remarks. 

" At one P.M., Her Majesty's steamer G-orgon fired a royal 
salute of twenty-one guns." 

Thus simply was the story told, that in a few hours 
was to send a thrill throughout the continent. 

To complete the narrative of the expedition, it is 
necessary to include the voyage of the Agamemnon, 
the best account of which is given in the letter of the 
correspondent of the London Times. We quote from 
the time of junction in mid ocean, just as the ships 
went sailing eastward and westward : 

"For the first three hours the ships proceeded very 
slowly, paying out a great quantity of slack, but after the 
expiration of this time, the speed of the Agamemnon was 
increased to about five knots per hour, the cable going at 
about six, without indicating more than a few hundred 
pounds of strain upon the dynamometer. Shortly after six 
o'clock a very large whale was seen approaching the star- 
board bow at a great speed, rolling and tossing the sea into 
foam all around, and for the first time we felt the possibility 
of the supposition that our second mysterious breakage of 
the cable might have been caused after all by one of these 
animals getting foul of it under water. It appeared as if it 



SECOND EXPEDITION SUCCESSFUL. 175 

were making direct for the cable, and great was the relief of 
all when the ponderous living mass was seen slowly to pass 
astern, just grazing the cable where it entered the water, 
but fortunately without doing any mischief. 

4 ! All seemed to go well up to about eight o'clock ; the 
cable paid out from the hold with an evenness and regular- 
ity which showed how carefully and perfectly it had been 
coiled away; and to guard against accidents which might 
arise in consequence of the cable having suffered injury 
during the storm, the indicated strain upon the dynamome- 
ter was never allowed to go beyond seventeen hundred 
pounds, or less than one quarter what the cable is estimated 
to bear, and thus far every thing looked promising of suc- 
cess. But, in such a hazardous work, no one knows what a 
few minutes may bring forth, for soon after eight, an in- 
jured portion of the cable was discovered about a mile or 
two from the portion paying out. Not a moment was lost 
by Mr. Canning, the engineer on duty, in setting men to 
work to cobble up the injury as well as time would permit, 
for the cable w^as going out at such a rate that the damaged 
portion would be paid overboard in less than twenty min- 
utes, and former experience had shown us that to check 
either the speed of the ship, or the cable, would, in all proba- 
bility, be attended by the most fatal results. 

"Just before the lapping was finished, Professor Thom- 
son reported that the electrical continuity of the wire had 
ceased, but that the insulation w r as still perfect; attention 
was naturally directed to the injured piece as the probable 
source of the stoppage, and not a moment was lost in cut- 
ting the cable at that point, with the intention of making a 
perfect splice. To the consternation of all, the electrical 
tests applied showed the fault to be overboard, and in all 



176 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

probability some fifty miles from the ship. Not a second 
was to be lost, for it was evident that the cut portion must 
be paid overboard in a few minutes, and in the mean time, 
the tedious and difficult operation of making* a splice had to 
be performed. The ship was immediately stopped, and no 
more cable paid out than was absolutely necessary to pre- 
vent it breaking-. 

1 i As the stern of the ship was lifted by the waves, a scene 
of the most intense excitement followed. It seemed impos- 
sible, even by using* the greatest possible speed, and paying 
out the least possible amount of cable, that the junction 
could be finished before the part was taken out of the hands 
of the workmen. The main hold presented an extraordinary 
scene ; nearly all the officers of the ship and of those con- 
nected with the expedition, stood in groups about the coil, 
watching with intense anxiety the cable, as it slowly un- 
wound itself nearer and nearer the joint, while the work- 
men, directed by Mr. Canning, under whose superintend- 
ence the cable was originally manufactured, worked at the 
splice as only men could work who felt that the life and 
death of the expedition depended upon their rapidity. But 
all their speed was to no purpose, as the cable was unwind- 
ing within a hundred fathoms, and, as a last and desper- 
ate resource, the cable was stopped altogether, and, for a 
few minutes, the ship hung on by the end. Fortunately, 
however, it was only for a few minutes, as the strain was 
continually rising above two tons, and it would not hold on 
much longer ; when the splice was finished, the signal was 
made to loose the stopper, and it passed overboard safely 
enough. 

"When the excitement consequent upon having so nar- 
rowly saved the cable had passed away, we awoke to the 



SECOND EXPEDITION SUCCESSFUL. 177 

consciousness that the case was still as hopeless as ever, for 
the electrical continuity was still entirely wanting. Prepa- 
rations were consequently made to pay out as little rope as 
possible, and to hold on for six hours, in the hopes that the 
fault, whatever it might he, might mend itself before cut- 
ting the cable and returning to the rendezvous to make 
another splice. The magnetic needles on the receiving in- 
struments were watched closely for the returning signals ; 
when, in a few minutes, the last hope was extinguished by 
their suddenly indicating dead earth, which tended to show 
that the cable had broken from the Niagara, or that the in- 
sulation had been completely destroyed. 

"In three minutes, however, every one was agreeably 
surprised by the intelligence that the stoppage had disap- 
peared, ajid that the signals had again appeared at their reg- 
ular intervals from the Niagara. It is needless to say what a 
load of anxiety this news removed from the minds of every 
one ; but the general confidence in the ultimate success of 
the operations was much shaken by the occurrence, for all 
felt that every minute a similar accident might occur. For 
some time the paying-out continued as usual, but toward 
the morning another damaged place was discovered in the 
cable ; there was fortunately, however, time to repair it in 
the hold without in any way interfering with the operations 
beyond for a time slightly reducing the speed of the ship. 

"During the morning of Friday, the thirtieth, every 
thing went well ; the ship had been kept at the speed of 
about five knots, the cable paid out at about six, the average 
angle with the horizon at which it left the ship being about 
fifteen degrees, while the indicated strain upon the dyna- 
mometer seldom showed more than sixteen hundred pounds 
to seventeen hundred pounds. Observations made at noon 
12 



178 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

showed that we had made good ninety miles from the start 
ing-point since the previous day, with an expenditure, in- 
cluding the loss in lowering the splice and during the subse- 
quent stoppages, of one hundred and thirty-five miles of the 
cable. During the latter portion of the day the barometer 
fell considerably, and toward the evening it blew almost a 
gale of wind from the-eastward, dead ahead of course. As 
the breeze freshened, the speed of the engines was gradually 
increased, but the wind more than increased in proportion, 
so that, before the sun went down, the Agamemnon was 
going full steam against the wind, only making a speed of 
about four knots an hour. During the evening topmasts 
were lowered, and spars, yards, sails, and indeed every 
thing aloft that could offer resistance to the wind, was sent 
down on deck ; but still the ship made but little way, chiefly 
in consequence of the heavy sea, though the enormous quan- 
tity of fuel consumed showed us that, if the wind lasted, we 
should be reduced to burning the masts, spars, and even the 
decks, to bring the ship into Yalentia. 

1 ' It seemed to be our particular ill-fortune to meet with 
head-winds whichever way the ship's head was turned. On 
our journey out we had been delayed, and obliged to con- 
sume an undue proportion of coal, for want of an easterly 
wind, and now all our fuel was wanted because of one. 
However, during the next day the wind gradually went 
around to the south-west, which, though it raised a very 
heavy sea, allowed us to husband our small remaining store 
of fuel. 

"At noon on Saturday, the thirty-first of July, observa- 
tions showed us to have made good one hundred and twenty 
miles of distance since noon of the previous day, with a loss 
of about twenty-seven per cent of cable. The Niagara, as 



SECOND EXPEDITION SUCCESSFUL. 179 

far as could be judged from the amount of cable she paid 
out, which, by a previous arrangement, was signalled at 
every ten miles, kept pace with us, within one or two miles, 
the whoje distance across. During the afternoon of Saturday, 
the wind again freshened up, and before nightfall it again 
blew nearly a gale of wind, and a tremendous sea ran before 
it from the south-west, which made the Agamemnon pitch 
to such an extent that it was thought impossible the cable 
could hold on through the night ; indeed, had it not been 
for the constant care and watchfulness exercised by Mr. 
Bright, and the two energetic engineers, Mr. Canning and 
Mr. Clifford, who acted with him, it could not have been 
done at all. Men were kept at the wheels of the machine 
to prevent their stopping as the stern of the ship rose and 
fell with the sea, for, had they done so, the cable must 
undoubtedly have parted. 

" During Sunday the sea and wind increased, and before 
the evening it blew a smart gale. Now, indeed, were the 
energy and activity of all engaged in the operation tasked to 
the utmost. Mr. Hoar and Mr. Moore, the two engineers 
who had the charge of the relieving- wheels of the dynamom- 
eter, had to keep watch and watch alternately every four 
hours, and while on duty durst not let their attention be 
removed from their occupation for one moment, for on their 
releasing the brakes every time the stern of the ship fell into 
the trough of the sea entirely depended the safety of the 
cable, and the result shows how ably they discharged their 
duty. Throughout the night, there were few who had the 
least expectation of the cable holding on till morning, and 
many remained awake listening for the sound that all most 
dreaded to hear — namely, the gun which should announce 
the failure of all our hopes. But still the cable, which, in 



180 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

comparison with the ship from which it was paid out, and 
the gigantic waves among which it was delivered, was but a 
mere thread, continued to hold on, only leaving a silvery 
phosphorous line upon the stupendous seas as they rolled on 
toward the ship. 

4 4 With Sunday morning came no improvement in the 
weather ; still the sky remained black and stormy to wind- 
ward, and the constant violent squalls of wind and rain 
which prevailed during the whole day served to keep up, 
if not to augment, the height of the waves. But the cable 
had gone through so much during the night, that our confi- 
dence in its continuing to hold was much restored. 

vl At noon, observations showed us to have made good one 
hundred and thirty miles from noon of the previous day, and 
about three hundred and sixty from our starting-point in 
mid-ocean. We had passed by the deepest sounding of 
twenty-four hundred fathoms, and over more than half of 
the deep water generally, while the amount of cable still re- 
maining in the ship was more than sufficient to carry us to 
the Irish coast, even supposing the continuance of the bad 
weather should oblige us to pay out the same amount of 
slack cable we had been hitherto wasting. Thus far things 
looked very promising for our ultimate success. But former 
experience showed us only too plainly that we could never 
suppose that some accident might not arise until the ends 
had been fairly landed on the opposite shores. 

" During Sunday night and Monday morning the weather 
continued as boisterous as ever, and it was only by the most 
indefatigable exertions of the engineer upon duty that the 
wheels could be prevented from stopping altogether, as the 
vessel rose and fell with the sea, and once or twice they did 
come completely to a standstill, in spite of all that could be 



SECOND EXPEDITION SUCCESSFUL. 181 

done to keep them moving ; but fortunately they were again 
set in motion before the stern of the ship was thrown up by 
the succeeding wave. No strain could be placed upon the 
cable, of course ; and though the dynamometer occasionally 
registered seventeen hundred pounds as the ship lifted, it 
was of tener below one thousand, and was frequently nothing, 
the cable running out as fast as its own weight and the speed 
of the ship could draw it. But even with all these forces 
acting unresistedly upon it, the cable never paid itself out at 
a greater speed than eight knots an hour at the time the ship 
was going at the rate of six knots and a half. Subsequently, 
however, when the speed of the ship even exceeded six knots 
and a half, the cable never ran out so quick. The average 
speed maintained by the ship up to this time, and, indeed, 
for the whole voyage, was about five knots and a half, the 
cable, with occasional exceptions, running about thirty per 
cent faster. 

"At noon on Monday, August second, had made good one 
hundred and twenty-seven and a half miles since noon of 
the previous day, and completed more than the half way to 
our ultimate destination. 

" During the afternoon an American three-masted schooner, 
which afterward proved to be the Chieftain, was seen stand- 
ing from the eastward toward us. No notice was taken of 
her at first, but when she was within about half a mile of the 
Agamemnon she altered her course, and bore right down 
across our bows. A collision, which might prove fatal to the 
cable, now seemed inevitable, or could only be avoided by 
the equally hazardous expedient of altering the Agamemnon's 
course. The Valorous steamed ahead, and fired a gun for 
her to heave to, which, as she did not appear to take much 
notice of, was quickly followed by another from the bows 



182 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

of the Agamemnon, and a second and third from the Val- 
orous, but still the vessel held on her course ; and as the 
only resource left to avoid a collision, the course of the 
Agamemnon was altered just in time to pass within a few 
yards of her. It was evident that our proceedings were a 
source of the greatest possible astonishment to them, for all 
her crew crowded upon her deck and rigging. At length 
they evidently discovered who we were, and what we were 
doing, for the crew manned the rigging, and dijDping the 
ensign several times they gave us three hearty cheers. 
Though the Agamemnon was obliged to acknowledge these 
congratulations in due form, the feelings of annoyance with 
which we regarded the vessel which, either by the stupidity 
or carelessness of those on board, was so near adding a fatal 
and unexpected mishap to the long chapter of accidents 
which had already been encountered, may easily be im- 
agined. To those below, who of course did not see the ship 
approaching, the sound of the first gun came like a thunder- 
bolt, for all took it as the signal of the breaking of the cable. 
The dinner-tables were deserted in a moment, and a general 
rush made up the hatches to the deck ; but before reaching 
it, their fears were quickly banished by the report of the suc- 
ceeding gun, which all knew well could only be caused by a 
ship in our way or a man overboard. 

" Throughout the greater portion of Monday morning the 
electrical signals from the Niagara had been getting gradu- 
ally weaker, until they ceased altogether for nearly three- 
quarters of an hour. Our uneasiness, however, was in some 
degree lessened by the fact that the stoppage appeared to be 
a want of continuity,* and not any defect in insulation, 

* This is an error, as we learn on the high authority of Professor 
Thomson himself. It was defective insulation, not any " want of con- 



SECOND EXPEDITION SUCCESSFUL. 183 

and there was consequently every reason to suppose that it 
might arise from faulty connection on board the Niagara. 
Accordingly Professor Thomson sent a message to the effect 
that the signals were too weak to be read, and, as if they had 
been aw T aiting such a signal to increase their battery power, 
the deflections immediately returned even stronger than they 
had ever been before. Toward the evening, however, they 
again declined in force for a short time. With the exception 
of these little stoppages, the electrical condition of the sub- 
merged wire seemed to be much improved. It was evident 
that the low temperature of the water at the immense depth 
improved considerably the insulating properties of the gutta- 
percha, while the enormous pressure to which it must have 
been subjected probably tended to consolidate its texture, and 
to fill up any air-bubbles or slight faults in manufacture 
which may have existed. 

"The weather during Monday night moderated a little, 
but still there was a very heavy sea on, which endangered 
the w T ire every second minute. 

"About three o'clock on Tuesday morning, all on board 
were startled from their beds by the loud booming of a gun. 
Every one, without waiting for the performance of the most 
particular toilet, rushed on deck to ascertain the cause of the 
disturbance. Contrary to all expectation, the cable was safe, 
but just in the gray light could be seen the Valorous rounded 
to in the most warlike attitude, firing gun after gun in quick 
succession toward a large American bark, which, quite un- 
conscious of our proceeding, was standing right across our 
stern. Such loud and repeated remonstrances from a large 

tinuity," that caused the weak signals. Want of continuity would have 
stopped the signals altogether, and given quite different indications on 
the testing instruments from those he observed. 



184 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

steam frigate were not to be despised, and, evidently without 
knowing the why or the wherefore, she quickly threw her 
sails aback and remained hove to. Whether those on board 
her considered that we were engaged in some filibustering 
expedition, or regarded our proceedings as another British 
outrage upon the American nag, it is impossible to say ; 
but certain it is that, apparently in great trepidation, she 
remained hove to until we had lost sight of her in the 
distance. 

' ' Tuesday was a much finer day than any we had expe- 
rienced for nearly a week, but still there was a considerable 
sea running, and our dangers were far from passed ; yet the 
hopes of our ultimate success ran high. We had accomplished 
nearly the whole of the deep-sea portion of the route in 
safety, and that, too, under the most unfavorable circum- 
stances possible ; therefore there was every reason to believe 
that unless some unforeseen accident should occur, we should 
accomplish the remainder. 

' ' About five o'clock in the evening, the steep submarine 
mountain which divides the telegraphic plateau from the 
Irish coast was reached, and the sudden shallowing of the 
water had a very marked effect upon the cable, causing the 
strain on and the speed of it to lessen every minute. A great 
deal of slack was paid out to allow for any great inequalities 
which might exist, though undiscovered by the sounding- 
line. About ten o'clock the shoal water of two hundred and 
fifty fathoms was reached ; the only remaining anxiety now 
was the changing from the lower main coil to that upon the 
upper deck, and this most difficult and dangerous operation 
was successfully performed between three and four o'clock 
on Wednesday morning. 

"Wednesday was a beautiful, calm day ; indeed, it was 



SECOND EXPEDITION SUCCESSFUL. 185 

the first on which any one would have thought of making a 
splice since the day we started from the rendezvous. We 
therefore congratulated ourselves on having saved a week 
by commencing operations on the Thursday previous. At 
noon, we were eighty-nine miles distant from the telegraph 
station at Yalentia. The water was shallow, so that there 
was no difficulty in paying out the wire almost without any 
loss of slack, and all looked upon the undertaking as vir- 
tually accomplished. 

"At about one o'clock in the evening, the second change 
from the upper-deck coil to that upon the orlop-deck was 
safely effected, and shortly after the vessels exchanged sig- 
nals that they were in two hundred fathoms water. As the 
night advanced the speed of the ship was reduced, as it was 
known that we were only a short distance from the land, 
and there would be no advantage in making it before day- 
light in the morning. About twelve o'clock, however, the 
Skelligs Light was seen in the distance, and the Valorous 
steamed on ahead to lead us in to the coast, firing rockets at 
intervals to direct us, which were answered by us from the 
Agamemnon, though, according to Mr. Moriarty, the mas- 
ter's wish, the ship, disregarding the Valorous, kept her own 
course, which proved to be the right one in the end. 

" By daylight on the morning of Thursday, the bold and 
rocky mountains which entirely surround the wild and pic- 
turesque neighborhood of Valentia, rose right before us at a 
few miles' distance. Never, probably, was the sight of land 
more welcome, as it brought to a successful termination one 
of the greatest, but, at the same time, most difficult schemes 
which was ever undertaken. Had it been the dullest and 
most melancholy swamp on the face of the earth that lay 
before us, we should have found it a pleasant prospect ; but, 



186 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

as the sun rose from the estuary of Dingle Bay, tinging 
with a deep, soft purple the lofty summits of the steep 
mountains which surround its shores, and illuminating the 
masses of morning vapor which hung upon them, it 
was a scene which might vie in "beauty with any thing 
that could be produced by the most florid imagination of an 
artist. 

' ' No one on shore was apparently conscious of our ap- 
proach, so the Valorous steamed ahead to the mouth of the 
harbor and fired a gun. Both ships made straight for 
Doulus Bay, and about six o'clock came to anchor at the 
side of Beginish Island, opposite to Valentia. As soon as the 
inhabitants became aware of our approach, there was a gen- 
eral desertion of the place, and hundreds of boats crowded 
around us, their passengers in the greatest state of excite- 
ment to hear all about our voyage. The Knight of Kerry 
was absent in Dingle, but a messenger was immediately dis- 
patched for him, and he soon arrived in Her Majesty's 
gunboat Shamrock. Soon after our arrival, a signal was 
received from the Niagara that they were preparing to land, 
having paid out one thousand and thirty nautical miles of 
cable, while the Agamemnon had accomplished her portion 
of the distance with an expenditure of one thousand and 
twenty miles, * making the total length of the wire sub- 
merged two thousand and fifty geographical miles. Imme- 
diately after the ships cast anchor, the paddle-box boats of 
the Valorous were got ready, and two miles of cable coiled 
away in them, for the purpose of landing the end ; but it 
was late in the afternoon before the procession of boats left 
the ship, under a salute of three rounds of small-arms from 

* The Niagara had sixty miles farther to run than the Agamemnon, to 
land the cable at the head of Trinity Bay. 



SECOND EXPEDITION SUCCESSFUL. 187 

the detachment of marines on board the Agamemnon, under 
the command of Lieutenant Morris. 

" The progress of the end to the shore was very slow, in 
consequence of the very stiff wind whicli blew at the time, 
but at about three o'clock the end was safely brought on 
shore at Knigthstown, Yalentia, by Mr. Bright and Mr. 
Canning, the chief and second engineers, to whose exertions 
the success of the undertaking is attributable, and the 
Knight of Kerry.* The end was immediately laid in the 
trench which had been dug to receive it, while a royal 
salute, making the neighboring rocks and mountains rever- 
berate, announced that the communication between the Old 
and the New World had been completed." 

* A name that occurs several times in this history, and one never to 
be mentioned but with honor. The Knight of Kerry was Lord of the 
Isles on that part of the Irish coast ; and from the beginning showed 
the deepest interest in this enterprise ; and by his generous hospitality to 
all connected with it made many friends by whom he was gratefully 
remembered on both sides of the Atlantic. 



CHAPTEK XL 



EXCITEMENT IN AMERICA. 



Whoever shall write the history of popular enthu- 
siasms, must give a large space to the Atlantic Tele- 
graph. Never did the tidings of any great achieve- 
ment — whether in peace or war — more truly electrify 
a nation. No doubt, the impression was the greater 
because it took the country by surprise. Had the 
attempt succeeded' in June, it would have found a 
people prepared for it. But the failure of the first ex- 
pedition, added to that of the previous year, settled the 
fate of the enterprise in the minds of the public. It 
was a hopeless undertaking ; and its projectors shared 
the usual lot of those who conceive vast designs, and 
venture on great enterprises, which are not successful, 
to be regarded with a mixture of derision and pity. 

Such was the temper of the public mind, when at 
noon of Thursday, the fifth of August, the following 
despatch was received : 

"United States Frigate Niagara, ) 
Trinity Bay, New foundland, August 5, 1858. J 

" To the Associated Press, New York : 

' ' The Atlantic Telegraph fleet sailed from Queenstown, 
Ireland, Saturday, July seventeenth, and met in mid-ocean 



EXCITEMENT IN AMERICA. 189 

Wednesday, July twenty-eighth. Made the splice at one 
p.m., Thursday, the twenty-ninth, and separated — the Aga- 
memnon and Valorous, bound to Valentia, Ireland ; the 
Niagara and Gorgon, for this place, where they arrived 
yesterday, and this morning the end of the cable will be 
landed. 

" It is one thousand six hundred and ninety-six nautical, 
or one thousand nine hundred and fifty statute, miles from 
the Telegraph House at the head of Yalentia harbor to the 
Telegraph House at the Bay of Bulls, Trinity Bay, and for 
more than two thirds of this distance the water is over two 
miles in depth. The cable has been paid out from the Aga- 
memnon at about the same speed as from the Niagara. The 
electric signals sent and received through the whole cable are 
perfect. 

"The machinery for paying out the. cable worked in the 
most satisfactory manner, and was not stopped for a single 
moment from the time the splice was made until we arrived 
here. 

"Captain Hudson, Messrs. Everett and Woodhouse, the 
engineers, the electricians, the officers of the ship, and in 
fact, every man on board the telegraph fleet, has exerted 
himself to the utmost to make the expedition successful, and 
by the blessing of Divine Providence it has succeeded. 

1 ' After the end of the cable is landed and connected with the 
land line of telegraph, and the Niagara has discharged some 
cargo belonging to the Telegraph Company, she will go to 
St. John's for coal, and then proceed at once to New York. 

"Cyrus W. Field." 

The impression of this simple announcment it is im- 
possible to conceive. It was immediately telegraphed 



190 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

to all parts of the United States, and everywhere pro- 
duced the greatest excitement. In some places all busi- 
ness was suspended ; men rushed into the streets, and 
flocked to the offices where the news was received. 
At Andover, Massachusetts, the news arrived while the 
Alumni of the Theological Seminary were celebrating 
their semi-centennial anniversary by a dinner. One 
thousand persons were present, all of whom rose to 
their feet, and gave vent to their excited feelings by 
continued and enthusiastic cheers. "When quiet was 
restored, Rev. Dr. Adams, of New York, said his heart 
was too full for a speech, and suggested, as the more 
fitting utterance of what all felt, that they should join 
in thanksgiving; to.Almightv God, and the venerable 
Dr. Hawes, of Hartford, led them in fervent prayer, 
acknowledging the great event as from the hand of 
God, and as calculated to hasten the triumphs of civil- 
ization and Christianity. Then all standing up to- 
gether, sang, to the tune of Old Hundred, the majestic 
doxology : 

' ' Praise God, from whom all blessings flow, 
Praise Him all creatures here below ; 
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host, 
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ! " 

Thus — said Dr. Hawes — " we have now consecrated 
this new power, so far as our agency is concerned, to 
the building up of the truth." 

In New York the news was received at first with 



EXCITEMENT IN AMERICA. 191 

some incredulity. But as it was confirmed by subse- 
quent despatches, the city broke out into tumultuous 
rejoicing. Never was there such an outburst of popu- 
lar feeling. In Boston a hundred guns were fired on 
the Common, and the bells of the city were rung for 
an hour to give utterance to the general joy. Similar 
scenes were witnessed in all parts of the United States. 
I have now before me the New York papers of Au- 
gust, 1858, and from the memorable fifth, when the 
landing took place, to the end of the month, they con- 
tain hardly any thing else than popular demonstrations 
in honor of the Atlantic Telegraph. It was indeed a 
national jubilee. 

It was natural that this overflow of public feeling 
should express itself towards one who was recognized 
as the author of the great work, which inspired such 
universal joy. Mr. Field, much to his own surprise, 
" awoke and found himself famous." In twenty -four 
hours his name was on millions of tongues. Congratu- 
lations poured in from all quarters, from mayors of 
cities and governors of States; from all parts of the 
Union and the British Provinces ; from the President 
of the United States and the Governor-General of 
Canada. Mr. Buchanan telegraphed to Mr. Field, at 
Trinity Bay : 

' ' My Dear Sir : I congratulate you with all my heart on 
the success of the great enterprise with which your name 
is so honorably connected. Under the blessing of Divine 



192 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

Providence I trust it may prove instrumental in promoting 
perpetual peace and friendship between the kindred na- 
tions." 

The popular estimate of the achievement and its 
author went still farther. With the natural exaggera- 
tion common to masses of men, when carried away by 
a sudden enthusiasm, the Atlantic Telegraph was 
hailed as an immense stride in the onward progress of 
the race, an event in the history of the world hardly 
inferior to the discovery of America, or to the inven- 
tion of the art of printing ; and the name of its pro- 
jector was coupled with those of Franklin and Colum- 
bus. He who but yesterday was regarded as a 
visionary, to-day was exalted as a benefactor of his 
country and of mankind. 

This avalanche of praise was quite overwhelming. 
It is always embarrassing to be forced into sudden 
conspicuity, and to find one's self the object of general 
attention and applause. While feeling this embarrass- 
ment, Mr. Field could not but be gratified to witness 
the public joy at the success of the enterprise, and he 
was deeply touched and grateful for the appreciation 
of his own services. But probably all these public 
demonstrations did not go to his heart so much as 
private letters received from the other side of the 
Atlantic, from those who had shared the labors of the 
enterprise — old companions in arms who had borne 
with him the heavy burden, and now were fully en- 



EXCITEMENT IN AMERICA. 193 

titled to a share in the honor which was the reward of 
their common toil. 

As a specimen of the congratulations which came 
from beyond the sea, we quote a single passage from a 
letter of Mr. George Saward, the Secretary of the 
Company in London, written immediately on receiving 
the news of the success of the enterprise. Under the 
impression of that event, he writes to Mr. Field : 

" At last the great work is successful. I rejoice at it for 
the sake of humanity at large. I rejoice at it for the sake 
of our common nationalities, and last but not least, for your 
personal sake. I most heartily and sincerely rejoice with 
you, and congratulate you, upon this happy termination to 
the trouble and anxiety, the continuous and persevering 
labor, and never-ceasing and sleepless energy, which the 
successful accomplishment of this vast and noble enterprise 
has cost you. Never was man more devoted — never did 
man's energy better deserve success than yours has done. 
May you in the bosom of your family reap those rewards of 
repose and affection, which will be doubly sweet from the 
reflection, that you return to them after having been under 
Providence the main and leading principal in conferring a 
vast and enduring benefit on mankind. If the contempla- 
tion of fame has a charm for you, you may well indulge in 
the reflection ; for the name of Cyrus W. Field will now go 
onward to immortality, as long as that of the Atlantic Tele- 
graph shall be known to mankind." 

The Directors, whose faith and courage had been so 
severely tried, now felt double joy, for their friend 
13 



194 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

and for themselves, at this glorious result of their 
united labors. Mr. Peabody wrote to Mr. Field that 
"his reflections must be like those of Columbus, after 
the discovery of America." Sir Charles Wood and Sir 
John Pakington, who, as successive First Lords of the 
Admiralty, had supported the enterprise with the con- 
stant aid of the British Government, wrote letters of 
congratulation on the great work which had been car- 
ried through mainly by his energy and unconquerable 
will. They were above any petty national jealousy, 
and never imagined that it would detract aught from 
the just honor of England, to award full praise to the 
courage and enterprise of an American. 

On his part, Mr. Field was equally anxious to ac- 
knowledge the invaluable aid given by others — aid, 
without which the efforts of no single individual could 
command success. On his arrival at St. John's, he 
was welcomed with enthusiasm by the whole popula- 
tion. An address was presented to him by the Execu- 
tive Council of Newfoundland, in which they offered 
their hearty congratulations on the success of the 
undertaking, which they recognized as chiefly due to 
him. " Intimately acquainted as we have been " — 
these are their words — " with the energy and enter- 
prise which have distinguished you from the com- 
mencement of the great work of telegraph connection 
between the Old and the New Worlds ; and feeling 
that under Providence this triumph of science is main- 



EXCITEMENT IN AMERICA. 195 

ly due to your well-directed and indomitable exertions, 
we desire to express to you our high appreciation of 
your success in the cause of the world's progress," etc. ; 
to which Mr. Field replied, recognizing in turn the 
cordial support which he had always received from 
the Government of Newfoundland. The Chamber of 
Commerce of St. John's also presented an address in 
similar terms, to which he replied — after acknowl- 
edofinof their kind mention of his own labors and 
sacrifices : 

11 But it would not only be ungenerous, but unjust, that I 
should for a moment forget the services of those who were 
my co-workers in this enterprise, and without whom any 
labors of mine would have been unavailing. It would be 
difficult to enumerate the many gentlemen whose scientific 
acquirements and skill and energy have been devoted to the 
advancement of this work, and who have so mainly pro- 
duced the issue which has called forth this expression of 
your good wishes on my behalf. But I could not do justice 
to my own feelings did I fail to acknowledge how much is 
owing to Captain Hudson and the officers of the Niagara, 
whose hearts were in the work, and whose toil was unceas- 
ing ; to Captain Dayman of her Majesty's ship Gorgon, for 
the soundings so accurately made by him last year, and for 
the perfect manner in which he led the Niagara over the 
great-circle arc while laying the cable ; to Captain Otter, of 
the Porcupine, for the careful survey made by him in Trin- 
ity Bay, and for the admirable manner in which he piloted 
the Niagara at night to her anchorage ; to Mr. Everett, who 
has for months devoted his whole time to designing and 



196 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

perfecting the beautiful machinery that has so successfully 
paid out the cable from the ships — machinery so perfect in 
every respect, that it was not for one moment stopped on 
board the Niagara until she reached her destination in Trin- 
ity Bay; to Mr. Woodhouse, who superintended the coiling 
of the cable, and zealously and ably cooperated with his 
brother engineer during the progress of paying-out : to the 
electricians for their constant watchfulness : to the men for 
their almost ceaseless labor (and I feel confident that you 
will have a good report from the commanders, engineers, 
electricians, on board the Agamemnon and Valorous, the 
Irish portion of the fleet) : to the Directors of the Atlantic 
Telegraph Company for the time they have devoted to the 
undertaking without receiving any compensation for their 
services (and it must be a pleasure to many of you to know 
that the director, who has devoted more time than any 
other, was for many years a resident of this place, and well 
known to all of you — I allude to Mr. Brooking, of Lon- 
don) ; to Mr. C. M. Lampson. a native of New England, but 
who has for the last twenty-seven years resided in London, 
who appreciated the great importance of this enterprise to 
both countries, and gave it most valuable aid, bringing his 
sound judgment and great business talent to the service of 
the Company; to that distinguished American, Mr. George 
Peabody, and his worthy partner. Mr. Morgan, who not 
only assisted it most liberally with their means, but to 
' whom I could always go with confidence for advice." 

Such acknowledgments, constantly repeated, showed 
a mind incapable of envy or jealousy ; that was chiefly 
anxious to recognize the services of others, and that 
they should receive from the public, both of England 



EXCITEMENT IN AMERICA. 197 

and America, the honors which they had so nobly 
earned. 

After two or three days' delay at St. John's, which 
the Niagara was obliged to make for coal, but which 
the people spent in festivity and rejoicing, she left 
for New York, where she arrived on the eighteenth — 
two weeks from the landing of the cable in Trinity 
Bay. These had been w r eeks of great excitement, yet 
not unmingled with suspense and anxiety. The pub- 
lic, eager for news, devoured every thing that con- 
cerned the telegraph with impatience, but all was not 
satisfactory. Despatches from Trinity Bay said that 
signals w r ere continually passing over the cable, yet 
no news reached the public from the other side of the 
Atlantic. This was partially explained by a message 
from Mr. Field, sent from Trinity Bay to the Asso- 
ciated Press as early as the seventh : 

' ' We landed here in the woods, and until the telegraph 
instruments are perfectly adjusted, no communications can 
pass between the two continents ; but the electric currents 
are received freely. 

' ' You shall have the earliest intimation when all is ready, 
but it may be some days before every thing' is perfected. 
The first through message between Europe and America will 
be from the Queen of Great Britain to the President of the 
United States, and the second his reply." 

But as the public grew impatient, and friends sent 
anxious inquiring messages, he telegraphed again from 
St. John's on the eleventh : 



198 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

u Before I left London, the Directors of the Atlantic 
Telegraph Company decided unanimously that, after the 
cable was laid, and the Queen's and President's messages 
transmitted, the line should be kept for several weeks for the 
sole use of Dr. Whitehouse, Professor Thomson, and other 
electricians, to enable them to test thoroughly their several 
modes of telegraphing, so that the Directors might decide 
which was the best and most rapid method for future use ; 
for it was considered that after the line should be once 
thrown open for business, it would be very difficult to obtain 
it for experimental purposes, even for a short time. 

"Due notice will be given when the line will be ready 
for business, and the tariff of prices." 

Still the public were not satisfied, and many were 
beginning to doubt, when, on the sixteenth, it was 
suddenly announced that the Queen's message was re- 
ceived. It was as follows : — 

" To the President of the United States, Washington: 

"The Queen desires to congratulate the President upon 
the successful completion of this great international work, 
in which the Queen has taken the deepest interest. 

' ' The Queen is convinced that the President will join with 
her in fervently hoping that the electric cable which now 
connects Great Britain with the United States will prove an 
additional link between the nations, whose friendship is 
founded upon their common interest and reciprocal esteem. 

"The Queen has much pleasure in thus communicating 
with the President, and renewing to him her wishes for the 
prosperity of the United States." 

To this the President replied : 



EXCITEMENT IN AMERICA. 199 

"Washington City, August 16, 1858. 
" To Her Majesty Victoria, the Queen of Great Britain : 

1 ' The President cordially reciprocates the congratulations 
of her Majesty the Queen, on the success of the great inter- 
national enterprise accomplished by the science, skill, and 
indomitable energy of the two countries. 

"It is a triumph more glorious, because far more useful 
to mankind, than was ever won by conqueror on the field 
of battle. 

"May the Atlantic Telegraph, under the blessing of 
Heaven, prove to be a bond of perpetual peace and friend- 
ship between the kindred nations, and an instrument des- 
tined by Divine Providence to diffuse religion, civilization, 
liberty, and law throughout the world. 

' ' In this view, will not all nations of Christendom spon- 
taneously unite in the declaration that it shall be for ever 
neutral, and that its communications shall be held sacred 
in passing to their places of destination, even in the midst 

of hostilities ? 

"James Buchanan." 

The arrival of the Queen's message was the signal 
for a fresh outbreak of popular enthusiasm. The next 
morning, August seventeenth, the city of New York 
was awakened by the thunder of artillery. A hun- 
dred guns were fired in the City Hall Park at day- 
break, and the salute w T as repeated at noon. At this 
hour, flags were flying from all the public buildings, 
and the bells of the principal churches began to ring, 
as Christmas bells signal the birth of one who came to 
bring peace and good-will to men — chimes that, it was 



200 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

fondly hoped, might usher in a new era, as they 

should 

Ring out the old, ring in the new, 

Ring out the false, ring in the true. 

That night the city was illuminated. Never had it 
seen so brilliant a spectacle. Such was the blaze of 
light around the City Hall, that the cupola caught fire, 
and was consumed, and the Hall itself narrowly es- 
caped destruction. Similar demonstrations took place 
in other parts of the United States. From the Atlan- 
tic to the Valley of the Mississippi, and to the Gulf of 
Mexico, in every city was heard the firing of guns and 
the ringing of bells. Nothing seemed too extravagant 
to give expression to the popular rejoicing. 

The next morning after this illumination, the Niag- 
ara entered the harbor of New York, and Mr. Field 
hastened to his home. The night before leaving the 
ship, he had written to the Directors in London, giving 
a full report of the laying of the cable, which he closed 
by resigning the position which he had held for the 
last seven months. He wrote : 

' ' At your unanimous request, but at a very great personal 
sacrifice to myself, I accepted the office of General Manager 
of the Atlantic Telegraph Company, for the sole purpose of 
doing all in my power to aid you to make the enterprise suc- 
cessful ; and as that object has been attained, you will please 
accept my resignation. It will always afford me pleasure to 
do any thing in my power, consistent with my duties to my 
family and my own private affairs, to promote the interests 
of the Atlantic Telegraph Company." 



EXCITEMENT IN AMERICA. 201 

Once more with his family, Mr. Field hoped for a 
brief interval of rest and quiet. But this was impossi- 
ble. The great event with which his name was con- 
nected was too fresh in the public mind. He could not 
escape public observation. He was at once thronged 
with visitors, offering their congratulations, and his 
house surrounded w r ith crowds eager to see and hear 
him. While making all allowance for popular excite- 
ment, yet none could deny that a service so great 
demanded some public recognition. Even in England, 
where the enthusiasm did not approach that in this 
country, still the wondrous character of the achieve- 
ment was fully acknowledged. Said the London Times 
on the morning of the sixth of August : " Since the 
discovery of Columbus, nothing has been done in any 
degree comparable to the vast enlargement which has 
thus been given to the sphere of human activity." 
" More was done yesterday for the consolidation of 
our empire, than the wisdom of our statesmen, the 
liberality of our Legislature, or the loyalty of our 
colonists, could ever have effected." To mark the 
public benefit which had been conferred, the Chief 
Engineer of the Expedition, Mr. Charles T. Bright, 
was knighted, and Captains Preedy and Aldham were 
both made Companions of the Bath, and other officers 
were promoted. Thus England showed her apprecia- 
tion of their services. 

But in this country titles and honors come not from 



202 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

the Government, but from the people. Popular en- 
thusiasm exhausted itself in eulogies of the man who 
had linked the Old World to the New. It seems 
strange now to sit down in cold blood and read what 
was published in the papers of that day. A collec- 
tion of American journals issued during that eventful 
month, August, 1858, would be a literary curiosity.* 

* Such a curiosity exists, prepared by the industry of a gentleman 
who was one of the most careful collectors of the events of his time — 
by which he gathered up the materials of future history — Mr. John 
R. Bartlett, formerly Secretary of State of Rhode Island. This gentle- 
man kept files of all the- papers referring to the Atlantic Telegraph, 
from which he compiled a very unique volume. It is in the form of a 
scrap-book, but on a gigantic scale, being of a size equal to Webster's 
large Dictionary. It is made up entirely of newspaper cuttings, classi- 
fied under different heads, and neatly arranged in double columns on 
nearly four hundred folio pages. The matter thus compressed would 
make between three and four octavo volumes of the size of Prescott's 
Histories, if printed in the style of those works. Every thing is included 
that could be gathered from European as well as American papers, 
touching the claims of the inventors and projectors of the electric tele- 
graph in general, and of the Atlantic Telegraph in particular. The 
historical sketches are set off by illustrations taken from the pictorial 
papers. Altogether it embraces more of the materials of a history of 
this subject than any other volume with which we are acquainted, and 
well deserves the title prefixed to it by the laborious compiler : 

"The Atlantic Telegraph.— Its Origin and History, with an Ac- 
count of the Voyages of the Steamers Niagara and Agamemnon, in La}- 
ing the Cable, and of the Celebration of the Great Event in New York, 
Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Montreal, Dublin, Paris, etc.; together with the 
Discussions, Sermons, Poetry, and Anecdotes relating thereto; also, a 
History of the Invention of the Electric Telegraph. Illustrated with 
Maps, Plans, Views, and Portraits, collected from the Newspapers of 
the Day, and arranged by John Russell Bartlett. 1858." 



EXCITEMENT IN AMERICA. 203 

Nor was it merely in such outward demonstrations 
that the public enthusiasm showed itself. The feeling 
struck deeper, and reached all minds. While the peo- 
ple shouted and cannon roared, sober and thoughtful 
men pondered on the change that was being wrought in 
the earth. Business men reasoned how it would affect 
the commerce of the world, while the philanthropic 
regarded it as the forerunner of an age of universal 
peace. The first message flashed across the sea — even 
before that of the Queen — had been one of religious 
exultation. It was from the Directors in Great Brit- 
ain to those on this side the Atlantic, and, simply re- 
citing the fact that Europe and America were united by 
telegraph, at once broke into a strain of religious rap- 
ture, echoing the song of the angels over a Saviour's 
birth : " Glory to God in the highest ; on earth, peace, 
good-will toward men." Poetry at once caught up the 
strain. The event became the theme of innumerable 
odes and hymns, of which it must be said that, what- 
ever their merit as poetry, their spirit at least was 
noble, celebrating the event chiefly as promoting the 
brotherhood of the human family. The key-note was 
struck in such lines as these : 

'Tis done! the angry sea consents. 

The nations stand no more apart, 
With clasped hands the continents 

Feel throbbings of each other's heart. 



204 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

Speed, speed the cable ; let it run 

A loving girdle round the earth, 
Till all the nations 'neath the sun 

Shall he as brothers of one hearth; 

As brothers pledging, hand in hand, 
One freedom for the world abroad, 

One commerce over every land, 
One language and one God. 

The sermons preached on this occasion were literal- 
ly without number. Enough found their way into 
print to make a large volume. Never had an event 
touched more deeply the spirit of religious enthusiasm. 
Devout men held it as an advance toward that millen- 
nial era w r hich was at once the object of their faith and 
hope. Was not this the predicted time when, u many 
should run to and fro, and knowledge should be 
increased ? " So said the preachers, taking for their 
favorite text the vision of the Psalmist, " Their line is 
gone out through all the earth, and their words to the 
end of the world;" or the question of Job: " Canst 
thou send forth the lightnings, that they may go and 
say unto thee, Here we are ? " Was not this the dawn 
of that happy age, when all men should be bound 
together in peaceful intercourse, and nations should 
learn war no more ? Such was the burden of the dis- 
courses that were preached in a thousand pulpits from 
one end of the country to the other. Even the Roman 
Catholic Church, so lofty and inflexible in its claims, 



EXCITEMENT IN AMERICA. 205 

soaring into the past centuries, and almost disdaining 
the material progress of the present day as compared 
with the spiritual glories of the Ages of Faith, did not 
ignore the great event ; and in laying the foundation 
of the new Cathedral of St. Patrick, the largest temple 
of religion on the continent, Archbishop Hughes placed 
under the corner-stone an inscription, wherein, along 
with the enduring record of the Christian faith and the 
names of martyrs and confessors, he did not disdain to 
include a brief memorial of this last achievement of 
science, and the name of him who had conferred so 
great a benefit on mankind. 

These public demonstrations culminated on the first 
of September, when the city authorities gave a public 
ovation to Mr. Field and the officers of the expedition. 
In accepting these honors, Mr. Field had taken good 
care that the British officers should be included with 
the American. At St. John's he had been notified of 
the intended celebration, and at once telegraphed to 
the British Admiral at Halifax : 

" I should consider it a very great personal favor if 
you would permit the Gorgon, Captain Dayman, to 
accompany the Niagara, Captain Hudson, to New 
York. English officers and English sailors have la- 
bored with American officers and American sailors to 
lay the Atlantic cable. They were with us in our days 
of trial, and pray let them, if you can, share with us 
our triumph." 



206 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

The request was granted so far as this, that the offi- 
cers were allowed leave of absence, and came on to 
New York to take part in the celebration, and in all 
the honors which followed, the officers of the Gorgon 
were associated with those of the Niagara. 

The day arrived, and the celebration surpassed any 
thing which the city had ever witnessed before. It 
was a mild autumn day — warm, yet with a sky softly 
veiled with clouds, that seemed to invite a whole pop- 
ulation into the streets. The day commenced with a 
solemn service at Trinity Church, which was attended 
by the city authorities, the representatives of foreign 
powers, and an immense concourse of people. The vast 
edifice was decorated with evergreens ; in the centre 
hung a cross, with the inscription : " Glory to God on 
high; and on earth, peace, good-will towards men." 
When the audience were assembled, there entered a 
procession of two hundred clergy, headed by Bishop 
Doane of New Jersey, who was to deliver the address. 
Prayers were offered and Scriptures were read, and at 
intervals the choir gave voice to the general joy in the 
anthems in which for ages the Church has been wont 
to pour forth its exultation : " O come, let us sing unto 
the Lord," the Gloria in Excelsis, and the Te Deum 
Laudamus. 

At noon, Mr. Field and the officers of the ships 
landed at Castle Garden and were received with a 
national salute. A procession was formed which ex- 



EXCITEMENT IN AMERICA. 207 

tended for miles from the Battery to the Crystal Pal- 
ace, which stood on the plot of ground now known 
as Bryant Park, between Fortieth and Forty-second 
streets. In the procession were Lord Napier, the 
British Minister, and officers of the army and navy. 
For the whole distance the streets were crowded. The 
windows and even the tops of the houses were filled 
with people. Everywhere flags and banners, with 
every device, floated in the air. So dense was the 
crowd that it was five or six hours before the proces- 
sion could reach the Crvstal Palace. 

Here its coming was awaited by an assembly that 
filled all the aisles and galleries. An address was 
delivered, giving the history of the Atlantic Telegraph. 
The Mayor then rose, and presenting Mr. Field to the 
audience, spoke as follows : 

"Sir : History records but few enterprises of such 'pith 
and moment ' as to command the attention and at the same 
time enlist the sympathies of all mankind. In all ages 
warlike expeditions have been undertaken on a scale of 
grandeur sufficient to astonish the world ; but the evils 
which are inseparable from their prosecution have always 
sent a thrill of horror through the anxious nations. The 
discovery of the Western continent even, the grandest event 
of modern times, was made by an insignificant fleet which 
left the shores of Spain without attracting the notice of 
the civilized world. Far different has been the history of 
the daring and difficult enterprise of uniting the Old 
World and the New by means of the electric telegraph. 



208 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

From the very outset the good, the great and the wise 
of all lands beneath the sun, have watched with intense 
anxiety, and even when doubt existed, with warm interest, 
every step taken toward the accomplishment of what was 
universally acknowledged to be the most momentous under- 
taking of an age made marvellous by wonderful scien- 
tific and mechanical achievements. The two greatest and 
freest nations of the globe, by independent constitutional 
legislation, and by the aid of their finest ships and their ablest 
officers and engineers, combined together to insure success. 
Capital was liberally subscribed by private citizens in a 
spirit which put greed to the blush. The press on both sides 
of the Atlantic recorded the details of the progress of the 
undertaking with cordial interest, and secured the generous 
sympathies of men of all kindreds and tongues and nations 
in its behalf. You were thus fortunate, sir, in being identi- 
fied with a project of such magnificent proportions and uni- 
versal concern. But the enterprise itself was no less for- 
tunate in being projected and carried into execution by a 
man whom no obstacles could daunt, no disasters discourage, 
no doubts paralyze, no opposition dishearten. If you, to 
whom the conduct of this great enterprise was assigned by 
the will of Providence and the judgment of your fellow- 
men, had been found wanting in courage, in energy, in de 
termination, and in a faith that was truly sublime, the very 
grandeur of the undertaking would only have rendered its 
failure the more conspicuous. But, sir, the incidents of the 
expedition, and the final result — too familiar to all the world 
to need repetition here — have demonstrated that you pos- 
sessed all the qualities essential to achieve a successful issue. 
It is for this reason that you now stand out from among your 
fellow-men a mark for their cordial admiration and grateful 



EXCITEMENT IN AMERICA. 209 

applause. The city of your home delights to honor you; 
your fellow-citizens, conscious that the glory of your success 
is reflected hack upon them, are proud that your lot has heen 
cast among them. They have already testified their appre-. 
ciation of your great services and heroic perseverance by 
illuminations, processions, serenades, and addresses. And 
now, sir, the municipal government of this, the first city on 
the Western continent, instruct me, who have never felt the 
honor of being its chief magistrate so sensibly as in the pres- 
ence of this vast assemblage of its fair women and substan- 
tial citizens, to present to you a gold box, with the arms of 
the city engraved thereon, in testimony of the fact that to 
you mainly, under Divine Providence, the world is indebted 
for the successful execution of the grandest enterprise of our 
day and generation ; and in behalf of the Mayor, Aldermen, 
and Commonalty of the City of New York, I now request 
your acceptance of this token of their approbation. In con- 
clusion, sir, of this, the most agreeable duty of my public 
life, I sincerely trust that your days may be long in the 
land, and as prosperous and honorable as your achievement 
in uniting the two hemispheres by a cord of electric com- 
munication has been successful and glorious. " 

To this flattering address, Mr. Field replied : 

" Sir : This will be a memorable day in my life; not only 
because it celebrates the success of an achievement with 
which my name is connected, but because the honor comes 
from the city of my home — the metropolitan city of the new 
world. I see here not only the civic authorities and citizens 
at large, but my own personal friends — men with whom I 
have been connected in business and friendly intercourse 
for the greater part of my life. Five weeks ago, this day 
14 



210 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. . 

and hour, I was standing on the deck of the Niagara in mid- 
ocean, with the Gorgon and Valorous in sight, waiting for 
the Agamemnon. The day was cold and cheerless, the air 
was misty, and the wind roughened the sea; and when I 
thought of all that we had passed through — of the hopes 
thus far disappointed, of the friends saddened hy our re- 
verses, of the few that remained to sustain us — I felt a load 
at my heart almost too heavy to bear, though my confidence 
was firm, and my determination fixed. How different is the 
scene now before me — this vast crowd testifying their sym- 
pathy and approval, praises without stint, and friends with- 
out number! This occasion, sir, gives me the opportunity 
to express my thanks for the enthusiastic reception which I 
have received, and I here make my acknowledgments before 
this vast concourse of my fellow-citizens. To the ladies 1 
may, perhaps, add, that they have had their appropriate 
place, for when the cable was laid, the first public message 
that passed over it came from one of their own sex. This 
box, sir, which I have the honor to receive from your hand, 
shall testify to me and to my children what my own city 
thinks of my acts. For your kindness, sir, expressed in 
such flattering, too flattering terms, and for the kindness of 
my fellow-citizens, I repeat my most heartfelt thanks." 

The enthusiasm with which this address was re- 
ceived reached its height, when at the close, Mr. 
Field advanced to the edge of the platform, and un- 
rolling a despatch, held it up, saying : " Gentlemen, I 
have just received a telegraphic message from a little 
village, now a suburb of New York, which I will read 
to you : 






EXCITEMENT IN AMERICA. 211 

" London, September 1, 1858. 
11 To Cyrus W. Field, New York : 

"The directors are on their way to Valentia, to make 
arrangements for opening the line to the public. They con- 
vey, through the cable, to you and your fellow-citizens, 
their hearty congratulations and good wishes, and cordially 
sympathize in your joyous celebration of the great interna- 
tional work.-' * 

A gold medal was presented to Captain Hudson, 
with an address, to which he made a fitting reply. 
Similar testimonials were presented to all the English 
captains through Mr. Archibald, the British Consul, 
who replied for his absent countrymen, after Avhich the 
whole audience rose to their feet, as the band played 
" God save the Queen." 

It was long after dark when the exercises closed, 
and the vast multitude dispersed. 

The night witnessed one of those displays for which 
New York surpasses all the cities of the world — a fire- 
men's torchlight procession — a display such as was 
afterward given to the Prince of Wales, but which we 

*The history of this despatch is curious. Though dated at London, 
it was sent from a small town in Ireland. The directors were on their 
way from Dublin to Valentia, on the morning of the first of September, 
when Mr. Saward remarked : " This is the day of the celebration in New 
York — we ought to send a despatch to Mr. Field." Accordingly, at the 
first stopping-place (Mallow Station) the message was written, and 
forwarded to Valentia, and thence sent across the Atlantic. It was 
put into Mr. Field's hand as he was getting into his carriage on the 
Battery. 



212 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

shall probably witness no more, since the Volunteer 
Fire Department is disbanded. 

But one day did not exhaust the public enthusiasm. 
The next evening, a grand banquet was given by the 
city authorities, at which were present a great number 
of distinguished guests. Lord Napier spoke, in lan- 
guage as happy as it was eloquent, of the new tie that 
was formed between kindred dwelling on opposite 
sides of the sea, and awarded the highest praise to the 
one whom he recognized as the author of this great 
achievement. 

While these demonstrations continued, every oppos- 
ing voice was hushed in the chorus of national rejoic- 
ing ; yet some there were, no doubt, who looked on 
with silent envy or whispered detraction. But who 
could grudge these honors to the hero of the hour — 
honors so hardly won, and which, as it proved, were 
soon to give place to harsh censures and unjust impu- 
tations ? 
. Alas for all human glory ! Its paths lead but to 
the grave. Death is the end of human ambition. 
The very day that a whole city rose up to do honor 
to the Atlantic Telegraph and its author, it gave its 
last throb, and that first cable was thenceforth to 
sleep for ever silent in its ocean grave. 



CHAPTER XII. 

DID THE FIRST CABLE EVER WORK? 

The Atlantic cable was dead ! That word fell 
heavy as a stone on the hearts of those who had staked 
so much upon it. What a bitter disappointment to 
their hopes ! In all the experience of life there are no 
sadder moments than those in which, after years of 
anxious toil, striving for a great object, and after one 
glorious hour of triumph, the achievement that seemed 
complete becomes a total wreck. Yain is all human 
toil and endeavor. The years thus spent are fled 
away ; the labor that was to have brought such a 
reward of " riches and honor," is lost ; and the pro- 
longed tension of the mind by the excitement of hope 
and ambition, and the temporary success, reacts to 
plunge it into a deeper depression. So was it here. 
Years of labor and millions of capital were swept 
away in an hour into the bosom of the pitiless sea. 

Of course the reaction of the public mind was very 
great. As its elation had been so extravagant before, 
it was now silent and almost sullen. People were 
ashamed of their late enthusiasm, and disposed to re- 
venge themselves on those who had been the objects 



214 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

of their idolatry. It is instructive to read the papers 
of the day. As soon as it was evident that the Atlan- 
tic cable was a dead lion, many hastened to give it a 
parting kick. There was no longer any dispute as to 
who was the author of the great achievement. Rival 
claimants quietly withdrew from the field, content to 
leave him alone in his glory. 

Many explanations were offered of this sudden sus- 
pension of life. One writer argued that the Tele- 
graphic Plateau was only a myth ; that the bottom of 
the ocean was jagged and precipitous ; that the cable 
passed over lofty mountain chains, and hung suspended 
from the peaks of submarine Alps, till it broke and fell 
into the tremendous depths below. 

But others found a readier explanation. With the 
natural tendency of a popular excitement to rush from 
one extreme to the other, many now believed that the 
whole thing was an imposition on public credulity, a 
sort of " Moon hoax." An elaborate article appeared 
in a Boston paper, headed with the alarming question, 
"Was the Atlantic cable a humbug?" wherein the 
writer argued through several columns that it was a 
huge deception. A writer in an English paper also 
made merry of the celebration in Dublin, where a ban- 
quet was given to Sir Charles Bright, in an article 
bearing the ominous title : " Very like a whale ! " This 
writer proved not only that the Atlantic cable was 
never laid, but that such a thing was mathematically 






DID THE FIRST CABLE EVER WORK? 215 

impossible. But since he turned out to be a crazy fel- 
low, whom the police. had to take into custody, his 
" demonstrations " did not make much impression on 
the public. The difficulty of finding a motive for the 
perpetration of such a stupendous fraud, did not at all 
embarrass these ingenious writers. Was it not enough 
to make the world stare ? to furnish something to the 
gaping crowd, even though it were but a nine days' 
wonder ? Those who thus reasoned seemed not to re- 
flect that such deceptions are always sure to be found 
out ; that one who goes up like a rocket comes down 
like a stick; and that if by false means he has made 
himself an object of popular idolatry, he is likely to 
become the object of popular indignation. 

But others there were — sharp, shrewd men — who 
thought they could see through a mill-stone farther 
than their neighbors, who shook their heads with a 
knowing air, and said : u It was all a stock specula- 
tion." One writer stepped before the public with this 
solemn inquiry : " Now that the great cable glorifica- 
tion is over, we should like to ask one question : How 
many shares of his stock did Mr. Field sell during the 
month of August ? " This he evidently thought w T as a 
question which could not be answered, except by ac- 
knowledging a great imposition on the public. If this 
brilliant inquirer after truth really desired to be in- 
formed, we could have referred him to Messrs. George 
Peabody & Co., of London, with whom was deposited 



216 STORY OP THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

all of Mr. Field's stock at the time, and who, during 
that memorable month of August, sold just one share, 
and that at a price below the par value, which had 
been paid by Mr. Field himself. Whether this was an 
object sufficiently great to set two hemispheres in a 
blaze, we leave him to judge. 

To those who have followed this narrative, all these 
conjectures and suspicions will appear very absurd. 
The persona] reflections of course deserved and received 
only the contempt with which a man of character 
always scorns ah imputation on his personal honor. 
But while these anonymous scribblers might be de- 
spised, many honest people not disposed to think evil 
were sorely perplexed. That the cable should continue 
to work for three or four weeks, and then stop the very 
day of the celebration, was certainly a singular, if 
not a suspicious circumstance ; and it was not to be 
wondered at that it should excite a painful feeling of 
doubt. The distrust is quite natural, and ought not 
to be matter either of offence or surprise. On the 
contrary, those who are fully satisfied of the facts, 
ought rather to be glad of the opportunity which 
such questions afford, to present the amplest vindica- 
tion. 

To relieve all doubts, it is only necessary to give a 
very brief history of the working of the Atlantic cable. 
It was landed on both sides of the ocean on the fifth 
of August. The last recorded message passed over it 



DID THE FIRST CABLE EVER WORK ? 217 

on the first of September, one day short of four weeks. 
Within that time there were sent exactly four hundred 
messages, of which two hundred and seventy -one were 
from Newfoundland to Ireland, and one hundred and 
twenty -nine from Ireland to Newfoundland. Of these, 
the greater part were merely between the operators 
themselves, respecting the adjustment of instruments, 
and working the telegraph, which, while they furnished 
decisive evidence to them, were of no force to the public. 
Of course an operator, working with a battery on the 
shore at Valentia, or at Trinity Bay, watching his 
instrument, and seeing the little tongue of light reflected 
from the moving mirror of the galvanometer, needed no 
other evidence of an electric current that had passed 
through the cable. He saw it, and knew, as if he saw 
the flash of a gun on the coast of Ireland, that it was a 
light which had come from beyond the sea. But these 
private assurances were nothing to the outside world. 
"What they needed was public messages, conveying news 
from one hemisphere to the other. Of these, there were 
not a great number, for obvious reasons. The cable, 
during the four weeks of its existence, never worked 
perfectly — that is, as a land line works, transmitting 
messages freely and rapidly, and with perfect accuracy. 
It was subject to frequent interruptions for reasons 
which may satisfy any one that the wonder is, not that 
it did so little, but that it did so much. 

1st. To begin with, the cable was not constructed in 



218 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

the most perfect manner. Its makers, though the best 
then in the world, had had but little experience in 
making deep-sea cables. No line over three hundred 
miles long had ever been laid. 2d. It had been made 
more than a year before. After it was finished, part of 
it had been coiled out of doors, where it was exposed 
to a burning sun, by which, as was afterward found, 
the gutta-percha had been melted in many places till 
the insulation was nearly destroyed. 3d. It had been 
put on board the ships in 1857, and after the first 
failure, had been taken out and coiled on the dock at 
Plymouth, and then re-shipped in 1858. Thus it had 
been twisted and untwisted, some portions of it as 
many as ten times. Then the Agamemnon was so 
shaken in the terrible gale of June, that the cable on 
board of her was seriously injured, and some portions 
were cut out and condemned. Taking all these things 
together, the wonder is, not that the cable failed after 
a month, but that it ever worked at all ! 

Owing to this impaired state of the cable, it did not 
work perfectly. Probably it would not have worked 
at all with ordinary instruments. But the galva- 
nometer of Professor Thomson, that instrument of 
marvellous delicacy, drew faint whispers from its mut- 
tering lips. Signals came and went, which showed 
that the electric current passed from shore to shore, 
and gave promise that with delicate handling it could 
be taught to speak plainly. But for the present it 






BID THE FIRST CABLE EVER WORK ? 219 

spoke slowly and with difficulty. It often took hours 
to get through a single despatch of any length. 
Witness the delay in transmitting the Queen's mes- 
sage ! These frequent interruptions were ascribed to 
various causes. Sometimes it was earth-currents; at 
others, a thunderstorm was raging. Thus, on the 
morning of Thursday, the twenty-sixth of August, 
there was a violent storm in Newfoundland, heavy 
rain, accompanied by thunder and lightning. At three 
o'clock, the lightning was so intense that for an hour 
and a half the end of the cable had to be put to the 
earth for protection. After that the storm cleared 
away, and at seven o'clock the weather was reported 
as very fine. But aside from these local and tem- 
porary causes, the real difficulty was in the cable 
itself, whose insulation had been fatally impaired, and 
which was now wearing out its life on the rocks of 
the sea. These causes made its speech difficult and 
broken. Yet sometimes it flashed up with sudden 
power. In one case, a message was sent from the 
office at Trinity Bay to Ireland and an answer re- 
ceived back in two minutes ! Such incidents excited 
the liveliest hopes that all difficulties would be speedily 
overcome, and justified the messages which were sent 
to the New York papers from day to day, that the 
instruments were being adjusted, by which it was ex- 
pected that the line would soon be put in perfect 
working order, and be thrown open to the public. 



220 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

But these flashes of light proved to be only the flick- 
ering of the flame, that was soon to be extinguished 
in the eternal darkness of the waters. 

But the question which perplexed not only skeptics, 
but the truest friends, was not whether the cable 
worked fast or slow", hut whether it ever worked at 
all. Happily, this is a question which can easily be 
settled, since it is one simply of facts and dates, which 
can be ascertained by referring to the files of the Eng- 
lish and American papers. Of course the only proof 
must be in messages containing news. Mere congratu- 
lations between the Queen and the President, or the 
Mayor of New York and the Mayor of London, prove 
nothing, for these might have been prepared before- 
hand, if we suppose a design to impose on the credulity 
of the public. But the decisive test is this : Was there 
at any time within that month published in the English 
or American journals news which could not be matter 
of guess or conjecture, and within a time too short for 
its possible transmission in any other way? If this 
can be proved be} 7 ond all doubt, even in a few in- 
stances, the question is decided, for the argument is 
just as strong with a dozen cases as with a thou- 
sand. We give, therefore, a few dates, the accuracy 
of which can be tested by any one who will take 
the trouble to examine the English and American 
papers : 

On Saturday, the fourteenth of August, the steam- 



DID THE FIRST CABLE EVER WORK ? 221 

ships Arabia and Europa, the former bound for New 
York and the latter for Liverpool, came into collision 
off Cape Race. The accident was not known in New 
York until Tuesday, the seventeenth, since it could 
not be telegraphed till the Arabia reached Halifax or 
the Europa St. John's, into which port she put for 
repairs. As soon as the news reached New York, the 
agent of the Company, Mr. Nimmo (Mr. Cunard 
himself being then in England), at once prepared a 
despatch to be sent to relieve immediate anxiety. This 
was not forwarded to Newfoundland, as peremptory 
orders had been given not to transmit any private 
business messages to go through the cable until the 
line was fully open to the. public. But the next day 
Mr. Field arrived in New York, and Mr. Nimmo 
applied to him. Seeing the urgency of the case, he 
ordered it to be forwarded. It was accordingly sent, 
and arrived in London on the twentieth, giving the 
first news that was received of the accident. This 
was repeatedly stated by the late Sir Samuel Cunard, 
of London, and confirmed by his son Mr. Edward 
Cunard, of New York. The message was published 
in the London papers of the twenty-first, as follows : 

"Arabia in collision with Europa, Cape Race, Saturday. 
Arabia on her way. Head slightly injured. Europa lost 
bowsprit, cutwater stem sprung. Will remain in St. John's 
ten days from sixteenth. Persia calls at St. John's for mails 
and passengers. No loss of life or limb." 



222 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

This first news message was not only a very decisive 
one as to the fact of telegraphic communication, but 
one which showed the relief given by speed) 7 knowl- 
edge in dispelling doubt and fear. Mr. William E. 
Dodge, of New York, says : " I was in Liverpool at 
the time, and expecting friends by the Europa. Any 
delay in the arrival of the ship would have caused 
great anxiety. But one morning, on going down to 
the Exchange, we saw posted up this despatch re- 
ceived the night before by the Atlantic Telegraph. 
All then said, if the cable never did any thing more, 
it had fully repaid its cost." Well may he add with 
devout feeling: "It seemed as if Divine Providence had 
permitted the event, to furnish a testimony which could 
not be denied, to the reality and the benefit of this new 
means of communication between the two continents." 

Passing over all the messages exchanged between 

© © © 

the operators at the stations, the congratulations of 
Queen and President, and of the Mayors of New York 
and London, we come to another news despatch. Au- 
gust twent3 7 -fifth, Newfoundland reports to Valentia: 

' ' Persia takes Europa's passengers and mails. Great re- 
joicing' everywhere at success of cable. Bonfires, fireworks, 
feux dejoie, speeches, balls, etc. Mr. Eddy, the first and 
best telegrapher in the States, died to-day. Pray give some 
news for New York ; they are mad for news." 

This despatch the writer, who was then in Europe, 
read first in the London Times. The item which ar- 



DID THE FIRST CABLE EVER WORK ? 223 

rested his attention was the death of Mr. Eddy, as he 
had some acquaintance with that gentleman. 

That the news must have come by cable, is clearly 
shown by an examination of dates. He died suddenly, 
at Burlington, Vermont, Monday, August twenty -third, 
1858, at ten o'clock fifteen minutes a. m. The exact 
day and hour we learned from his widow, who after 
his death lived in Brooklyn. The news was tele- 
graphed to New York, and from there sent to Trinity 
Bay, which it reached the following day, and from 
which it was forwarded to Yalentia, and appeared in 
the London Times Wednesday morning. Thus not 
forty-eight hours elapsed after he breathed his last, 
before it was published in England. If any one wishes 
to see the despatch, he will find a file of The Times in 
the Astor Library. 

But here appears a slight discrepancy, that, how- 
ever, when examined, furnishes double proof. The 
despatch is dated August twenty-fifth, and says Mr. 
Eddy died to-day, and yet it is published in the London 
Times of the same date ! How r is this ? It was sent 
between nine and ten o'clock at night of the twenty- 
fourth, when the operator at Heart's Content would say 
this day of a piece of news just received, but in affixing 
the date, he was governed by Greenwich time, which 
made it more than three hours later. Accordingly it 
was published in The Times, dated August twenty- 
fifth, fifty-three minutes past twelve a. m. ! 






224 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

Those who argued for the theory of collusion and 
deception, must have been embarrassed by this unex- 
pected intelligence appearing in London, which could 
only be explained as a false report, unless (more won- 
derful still !) Mr. Eddy had entered into the plot, and 
sent the message beforehand, and then offered himself 
as a sacrifice, to prove it correct ! 

To the demand for news in the above despatch, a 
reply was at once returned : " Sent to London for 
news." And later the same day came the following : 

"North American with Canadian, and the Asia with 
direct Boston mails, leave Liverpool, and Fulton, South- 
ampton, Saturday next. To-day's morning papers have 
long*, interesting 1 reports by Bright. Indian news. Virago 
arrived at Liverpool to-day ; Bombay dates nineteenth July. 
Mutiny being rapidly quelled." 

A despatch of the same date, August twenty-fifth, 
also announces peace with China. The whole was 
received at Trinity Bay about nine o'clock p.m., and 
would have been sent on at once to New York, but 
that the land lines in IsTova Scotia were closed at that 
hour. It was sent the next morning, and appeared in 
the evening papers of the twenty-sixth. 

By referring again to the London Times, the reader 
will see that the news from China was published 
in London on the twenty-third of August. It was 
there given as tmexpected news, so that it could not 
have been a shrewd guess on the part of anybody 



DID THE FIRST CABLE EVER WORK ? 225 

either in England or America. It took the public by 
surprise, both for the news itself and for the way in 
which it came — which was not by India and the Eed 
Sea, but by St. Petersburg, where it arrived on the 
twenty-first, having been brought overland by a cou- 
rier to Prince Grortchakoff. From there it was tele- 
graphed to the Government at Paris, and thence to 
London. The Times comments on this roundabout way 
in which intelligence so important reached England. 
Yet this news, so unlooked for, announced in London 
only on the morning of the twenty-third of August, 
was published in New York on the twenty-sixth. 

August twenty-seventh, comes a still longer de- 
spatch, which we give in full : 

"George Saward, Secretary Atlantic Telegraph Com- 
pany, to Associated Press, New York. News for America 
by Atlantic cable. Emperor of France returned to Paris, 
Saturday. King of Prussia too ill to visit Queen Victoria. 
Her Majesty returns to England thirtieth of August. — St. 
Petersburg, twenty-first of August. Settlement of Chinese 
question. Chinese empire opened to trade; Christian reli- 
gion allowed; foreign diplomatic agents admitted; indem- 
nity to England and France. — Alexandria, August ninth. 
The Madras arrived at Suez seventh inst. Dates Bombay to 
the nineteenth ; Aden, thirty-first. Gwalior insurgent army 
broken up. All India becoming tranquil." 

This despatch embodies about a dozen distinct items 
of news, not one of which could be known without a 
15 



226 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

telegraphic communication. The whole was received 
in New York, and published in the evening papers the 
same day. 

Not to be outdone in giving news, the next day, 
Saturday, August twenty-eighth, Newfoundland thus 
replies to Yalentia : 

" To the Directors : Take news first, Saward. Sir Wil- 
liam Williams, of Kars, arrived Halifax Tuesday. Enthu- 
siastically received. Immense procession — welcome address 
— feeling reply. Held levee — large number presented. 
Niagara sailed for Liverpool at one this morning. The 
Gorgon arrived at Halifax last night. Yellow fever in New 
Orleans, sixty to seventy deaths per day. Also declared 
epidemic, Charleston. Great preparations in New York 
and other places for celebration, to be held the first and 
second of September. New Yorkers will make it the great- 
est gala-day ever known in this country. Hermann sailed 
for Fraser's River ; six hundred passengers. Prince Albert 
sailed yesterday for Galway. Arabia and Ariel arrived New 
York ; Anglo Saxon, Quebec ; Canada, Boston. Europa left 
St. John's this morning. Splendid aurora Bay of Bulls to- 
night, extending over eighty-five degrees of the horizon." 

Let any one read this despatch, sentence by sentence, 
noting the minuteness of the details — which could not 
be known or conjectured — such as the appearance of 
yellow fever at New Orleans, with the number of 
deaths a day ; the sailing or arrival of seven steamers ; 
the number of passengers for Fraser's River, etc. — and 
then examine the London Times, in which all these 



DID THE FIRST CABLE EVER WORK? 227 

items appeared Monday morning, August thirtieth, 
and if he does not admit that collusion or deception 
is out of the question, no amount of evidence could 
convince him. 

We will give but one proof more. On the last day 
of August, the day before the cable ceased to work, 
Valentia sent to Newfoundland two messages for the 
British Government, both signed by "the Military 
Secretary to the Commander-in-Chief, Horse Guards, 
London," and addressed — the £rst to General Trollope, 
Halifax, which said, " The Sixty-second regiment is 
not to return to England ; " and the other to the Gen- 
eral Officer commanding at Montreal, saying : " The 
Thirty-ninth regiment is not to return to England." 
The year before (1857) had witnessed the Sepoy Mu- 
tiny, which threatened the overthrow of the British 
Empire in India. The fighting was over, but the 
country was still agitated, and the Home Government 
in fear that the rebellion might be renewed, so that it 
continued to send forward fresh troops. It had sent 
out orders by mail for these two regiments to embark 
immediately for home, to be sent to India. But the 
mutiny being nearly suppressed, this was found not to 
be necessary, and the prompt countermanding of the 
order by telegraph saved the British Government, in 
the cost of transportation of troops, not less than fifty 
thousand pounds. The despatch to Halifax w r as re- 
ceived the same day that it w T as sent from London. 



228 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

The sending of this despatch, and its almost immediate 
reception, is attested by an official letter from the War 
Office in London. 

This array of proofs of what took place a quarter of 
a century ago, may seem superfluous now that expe- 
rience has made despatches from the other side of the 
ocean one of the familiar things of our daily life. 
And yet at that date the achievement was so stupen- 
dous, and, as some thought, in its very nature so in- 
credible, that men of the greatest intelligence could 
not be convinced. The late Mr. Charles O'Conor 
continued for years to quote the fact that some, men 
believed that a message had actually passed across the 
Atlantic as the most amazing illustration of human cre- 
dulity ! Happily he lived to see and to appreciate to 
its full value this latest miracle of scientific discovery, 
applied by human genius and skill. 



CHAPTEB XIII. 

CAST DOWN, BUT NOT IN DESPAIR. 

It takes a long time to recover from a great dis- 
aster. When at last the friends of the Atlantic Tele- 
graph were obliged to confess that the cable had ceased 
to work ; when all the efforts of the electricians failed 
to draw more than a few faint whispers, a dying gasp, 
from the depths of the sea, there ensued in the public 
mind a feeling of profound discouragement. For a 
time this paralyzed all effort to revive the Company 
and to renew the enterprise. And yet the feeling, 
though natural, was extreme. If they had not done 
all they attempted, they had accomplished much. They 
had at least demonstrated the possibility of laying a 
cable across the Atlantic Ocean, and of sending mes- 
sages through it. This alone was no small triumph. 
So men reasoned when sober reflection returned, and 
at length the tide of public confidence, which had 
ebbed so strongly, began to reflow, and once more to 
creep up the shores of England. 

But when a great enterprise has been overthrown, 
and lies prostrate on the earth, the first impulse of its 
friends is to call on Caesar for help. So the first appeal 



230 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

of the Atlantic Telegraph Company was to the British 
Government. It was claimed, and with reason, that 
the work was too great to be undertaken by private 
capital alone. It was a matter, not of private specu- 
lation, but of public and national concern. It was, 
therefore, an object which might justly be undertaken 
by a powerful government, in the interest of science 
and of civilization. 

To raise capital for a new cable, it was necessary tp 
have some better security than the hazards of a vast 
and doubtful undertaking. Hence the Company asked 
the Government to guarantee the interest on a certain 
amount of stock, even if the second attempt should 
not prove a success. With such a guarantee, the capi- 
tal could be raised in London in a day. 

In this application they might have been successful, 
but for an untoward event, which dampened the con- 
fidence of the public in all submarine enterprises — the 
failure of the Red Sea Telegraph. The British Gov- 
ernment, anxious to forward communication with India, 
had given that Company an unconditional guarantee, 
on the strength of which the capital was raised, and 
the cable manufactured and laid. But in a short time 
it ceased to work, a loss which the treasury of Great 
Britain had to make good. To the public, which 
did not understand the cause of the failure to be the 
imperfect construction of the cable, the effect was to 
impair confidence in all long submarine telegraphs. 



CAST DOWN, BUT NOT IN DESPAIR. 231 

Of course, after such an experience, the Government 
was not disposed to bind itself by such pledges again. 
It was, however, ready to aid the enterprise by any 
safe means. It therefore increased its subsidy from 
fourteen thousand pounds to twenty thousand pounds ; 
and guaranteed eight per cent on six hundred thousand 
pounds of new capital for twenty-five years, with only 
one condition — that the cable should work. This was a 
liberal grant, and under the circumstances, was all that 
could be expected. 

Still further to encourage the undertaking, it ordered 
new soundings to be taken off the coast of Ireland. 
These were made by Captain Hoskins, of the Royal 
Navy, and dispelled the fears which had been enter- 
tained of a submarine mountain, w r hich would prove an 
impassable barrier in the path of an ocean telegraph. 

But the greatest service which the British Govern- 
ment rendered, w r as in the long course of experiments 
which it now ordered, to determine all the difficult 
problems of submarine telegraphy. In 1S59, the year 
after the failure of the first Atlantic cable, the Board 
of Trade appointed a committee of the most eminent 
scientific and engineering authorities in Great Britain 
to investigate the whole subject. This was composed 
of Captain Douglas Galton, of the Royal Engineers, 
then of the War Office, w r ho represented the Govern- 
ment ; Professor Wheatstone, the celebrated electrician ; 
William Fairbairn, President of the British Association 



232 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

for the Advancement of Science ; George Parker Bid- 
der, whose name ranks with those of Stephenson and 
Brunei ; C. F. Yarley, who, in the practical working of 
telegraphs, had no superior in England; Latimer Clark 
and Edwin Clark, both engineers, who had had great 
experience in the business of telegraphing ; and George 
Saward, the Secretary of the Atlantic Telegraph Com- 
pany. 

This Committee sat for nearly two years, at the end 
of which it made a report to the Government, which 
fills a very large volume, in which are detailed an im- 
mense number of experiments, touching the form and 
size of cables, their relative strength and flexibility, 
the power of telegraphing at long distances, the speed 
at which messages could be sent ; and in fine, every 
possible question, either as to the electrical or engi- 
neering difficulties to be overcome. The result of 
these manifold and laborious experiments is summed 
up in the following certificate, signed by all who had 
taken part in this memorable investigation : 

"London, 13th July, 1863. 
"We, the undersigned, members of the Committee, who 
were appointed' by the Board of Trade, in 1859, to investi- 
gate the question of submarine telegraphy, and whose in- 
vestigation continued from that time to April, 1861, do 
hereby state, as the result of our deliberations, that a well- 
insulated cable, properly protected, of suitable specific 
gravity, made with care, and tested under water through- 



CAST DOWN, BUT NOT TN DESPAIR. 233 

out its progress with the best known apparatus, and paid 
into the ocean with the most improved machinery, possesses 
every prospect of not only being successfully laid in the 
first instance, but may reasonably be relied upon to con- 
tinue for many years in an efficient state for the transmis- 
sion of signals. 

Douglas Galton, Cromwell F. Varley, 
C. Wheatstone, Latimer Clark, 

Wm. Fairbairn, Edwin Clark, 

Geo. P. Bidder, G-eo. Saward." 

Thus the years which followed the failure of 1858 — 
though they saw no attempt to lay another ocean 
cable — were not years of idleness. They were rather 
years of experiment and of preparation, clearing the 
way for new efforts and final victor} 7 . The Atlantic 
Telegraph itself had been a grand experiment. It had 
taught many important truths which could be learned 
in no other way. Not only had it demonstrated the 
possibility of telegraphing from continent to conti- 
nent, but it had been useful even in exposing its own 
defects, as it taught how to avoid them in the future. 

For example, in working the first cable, the electri- 
cians had thought it necessary to use a very strong 
battery. They did not suppose they could reach 
across the whole breadth of the Atlantic, and touch 
the Western hemisphere, unless they sent an electric 
current that was almost like a stroke of lightning ; 
and that, in fact, endangered the safety of the con- 
ducting wire. But they soon found that this was 



234 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

unnecessary. God was not in the whirlwind, but in 
the still, small voice. A soft touch could send a 
thrill along that iron nerve. It seemed as if the deep 
were a vast whispering gallery, and that a gentle voice 
murmured in the ocean caves, like a whisper in a sea- 
shell, might be caught, so wonderful are the harmo- 
nies of nature, by listening ears on remote continents ; 
a miracle of science, that could give a literal meaning 
to Milton's 

" Airy tongues, that syllable men's names 
On sands, and shores, and desert wildernesses." 

These were also years of great progress, not only in 
the science of submarine telegraphy, but in the con- 
struction of deep-sea cables. In spite of the failure of 
that in the Red Sea, one was laid down in the Medi- 
terranean, 1,535 miles long, from Malta to Alexandria, 
and another in the Persian Gulf, 1,400 miles long, by 
which telegraphic communication was finally opened 
from England to India. Others were laid in different 
seas and oceans in distant parts of the world. These 
great triumphs, following the scientific experiments 
which had been made, revived public confidence, and 
prepared the way for a fresh attempt to pass the 
Atlantic. 

Yet not much was done to renew the enterprise 
until 1862. Mr. Field had been indefatigable in his 
efforts to reanimate the Company. He was continu- 



CAST DOWN, BUT NOT IN DESPAIR. 235 

ally going back and forth to the British Provinces and 
to England, urging it wherever his voice could be 
heard. Yet times were adverse. The United States 
had been suddenly involved in a tremendous war, 
which called into the field hundreds of thousands of 
men, and entailed a burden of many hundreds of mil- 
lions. While engaged in this life-and-death struggle, 
and rolling up a mountain of debt, our people had 
little thought to bestow on great enterprises by land 
or sea. 

And yet one incident of the war forcibly recalled 
public attention to the necessity of some speedier com- 
munication with Europe than by steam. The unhappy 
Trent affair aroused an angry feeling in Great Britain 
which nearly resulted in hostilities, all of which might 
have been prevented by a single word of explanation. 
As The Times said truly : " We nearly went to war 
with America because we had not a telegraph across 
the Atlantic." After such a warning, it was natural 
that both countries should begin to think seriously of 
the means of preventing future misunderstanding. Mr. 
Field went to Washington, and found great readiness 
on the part of the President and his Cabinet to en- 
courage the enterprise. Mr. Seward w T rote to our 
Minister in London that the American Government 
w r ould be happy to join with that of Great Britain in 
promoting this international work. With this encour- 
agement, Mr. Field went to England to urge the Com- 



236 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

pany to renew the undertaking. While in London, 
he endeavored to obtain from some responsible parties 
an offer to construct and lay down a cable. Messrs. 
Glass, Elliot & Co., replied, declaring their willingness 
to undertake the work, without at first naming the 
precise terms. They wrote to him under date of Feb- 
ruary seventeenth : 

1 ' Sir : In reply to your inquiries, we beg to state that we 
should not be willing to manufacture and lay a Submarine 
Telegraph Cable across the Atlantic, from Ireland to New- 
foundland, assuming the entire risk, as we consider that 
would be too great a responsibility for any single firm to 
undertake ; but we are so confident that these points can be 
connected by a good and durable cable, that we are willing 
to contract to do the work, and stake a large sum upon its 
successful laying and working. 

4 ' We shall be prepared in a few days, as soon as we can 
get the necessary information in regard to what price we 
can charter suitable ships for the service, to make you a 
definite offer. " 

Although it is anticipating a few months in time, we 
may give here the " definite offer," which was obtained 
by Mr. Field, on his return to England in the autumn : 

"London, October 20, 1862. 
" Cyrus W. Field, Esq., Atlantic Telegraph Company: 

u Dear Sir: In reply to your inquiries, we beg to state, 
that Ave are perfectly confident that a good and durable Sub- 
marine Cable can be laid from Ireland to Newfoundland, 



CAST DOWN, BUT NOT IN DESPAIR. 237 

and are willing" to undertake the contract upon the follow- 
ing conditions : 

1 ' First. That we shall be paid each week our actual dis- 
bursements for labor and material. 

; ' Second. That when the cable is laid and in working 
order, we shall receive for our time, services, and profit 
twenty per cent on the actual cost of the line, in shares of 
the Company, deliverable to us, in twelve equal monthly 
instalments, at the end of each successive month whereat 
the cable shall be found in working order. 

* ' We are so confident that this enterprise can be success- 
fully carried out, that we will make a cash subscription for 
a sum of twenty-five thousand pounds sterling in the ordi- 
nary capital of the Company, and pay the calls on the same 
when made by the Company. 

" Annexed we beg to hand you, for your guidance, a list 
of all the submarine telegraph cables manufactured and laid 
by our firm since we commenced this branch of our busi- 
ness, the whole mileage of which, with the exception of the 
short one between Liverpool and Holyhead, which has been 
taken up, is at this time in perfect and successful working 
order. The cable that w x e had the honor to contract for and 
lay down for the French Government, connecting France 
with Algeria, is submerged iri water of nearly equal depths 
to any w x e should have to encounter between Ireland and 
Newfoundland. 

" You will permit us to suggest that the shore ends of the 
Atlantic Cable should be composed of very heavy wires, as 
from our experience the only accidents that have arisen to 
any of the cables that we have laid have been caused by 
ships' anchors, and none of those laid out of anchorage 
ground have ever cost one shilling for repairs. 



238 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

' ' The cable that we would suggest for the Atlantic will 
be an improvement on all those yet manufactured, and we 
firmly believe will be imperishable when once laid. 
" We remain, sir, yours faithfully, 

' ' Glass, Elliot & Co." 

The summer of this year Mr. Field spent in Amer- 
ica, where he applied himself vigorously to raise capi- 
tal for the new enterprise. To this end he visited Bos- 
ton, Providence, Philadelphia, Albany, and Buffalo — 
to address meetings of merchants and others. He used 
to amuse us with the account of his visit to the first 
city, where he was honored with the attendance of a 
large array of " the solid men of Boston," who listened 
with an attention that was most flattering to the pride 
of the speaker, addressing such an assemblage in the 
capital of his native State. There was no mistaking 
the interest they felt in the subject. They w r ent still 
farther, they passed a series of resolutions, in which 
they applauded the projected telegraph across the 
ocean as one of the grandest enterprises ever under- 
taken by man, w T hich they proudly commended to the 
confidence and support of the American public, after 
w^hich they went home, feeling that they had done the 
generous thing in bestowing upon it such a mark of 
their approbation. But not a man subscribed a dollar ! 
Yet it is not necessary to charge them with meanness 
or hypocrisy. No doubt they felt just what they said. 
They could not but admire the courage of their coun- 



CAST DOWN, BUT NOT IN DESPAIR. 239 

tryman. It was inspiring to hear him talk. Yet these 
solid men were never lifted off their feet so far as to 
forget the main chance. What were to be the returns 
for this magnificent adventure? Peering into the 
future, the prospect of dividends was very remote. In 
fact they looked upon the Atlantic Telegraph as a sort 
of South Sea Bubble, an airy fancy, which would go 
up like a balloon, never to return to earth again. So, 
like the high priest and the Levite, they passed by on 
the other side. 

Other cities were equally gracious, equally compli- 
mentary, but equally prudent. In New York he suc- 
ceeded better, but only by indefatigable exertions. 
He addressed the Chamber of Commerce, the Board 
of Brokers, and the Corn Exchange, and then he went 
almost literally from door to door, calling on mer- 
chants and bankers to enlist their aid. The result 
was, subscriptions amounting to about seventy thousand 
pounds, the whole of which was due to persevering 
personal solicitation. Even of those who subscribed, 
a large part did so more from sympathy and admira- 
tion of his indomitable spirit than from confidence in 
the success of the enterprise. 

In England, however, the subject was better under- 
stood. For obvious reasons, the science of submarine 
telegraphy had made greater advances in that country 
than in ours. As England is an island, she is obliged 
to hold all her telegraphic communication with the 



240 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

continent by cables under the sea. She has colonial 
possessions in all parts of the world. A power that 
rules so large a part of the earth cannot be shut up in 
her island home. No one has depicted the extent 
of her dominion in nobler phrase than our own 
Webster when he speaks of the imperial sway which 
"has dotted the face of the whole globe with its 
possessions and military posts, whose morning drum- 
beat, following the sun and keeping company w r ith the 
hours, encircles the whole earth w r ith one continuous 
and unbroken strain of the martial airs of England." 
Was it strange that this mother of nations should reach 
out her long arms to embrace her distant children ? 

Hence it was that the subject of submarine tele- 
graphs w r as so much better understood in England 
than in America, not only by scientific men, but by 
capitalists. The appeal could be made to them with 
more assurance of intelligent sympathy. And yet so 
vast was the undertaking, that it required ceaseless 
effort to roll the stone to the top of the mountain, and 
the result was not completely achieved till the begin- 
ning of the year 1864. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE EXPEDITION OF 1865. 

It is a long night which has no morning. At last 
the day is breaking. While weary eyes are watching 
the East, daylight comes over the sea. Five years 
have passed away, and though the time seemed long 
as an Arctic winter, that only made more bright the 
rising of the sun. Those years of patient experiment, 
when scientific men were applying tests without num- 
ber, and submarine lines were feeling their way along 
the deep-sea floor in all the waters of the world, at last 
brought forth their fruit in that renewed confidence 
which is the forerunner of victory. 

So strong was this feeling, that as early as August, 
1863, although the capital was not raised, the Board 
advertised for proposals for a cable suitable to be laid 
across the Atlantic Ocean ; • and in order to leave in- 
vention entirely unfettered, abstained from any dicta- 
tion as to the form or materials to be adopted, merely 
stipulating for a working speed of eight words a 
minute. 

To this request they received, in the course of a few 

weeks, seventeen different proposals from as many 
16 



242 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

companies, many of them firms of large wealth and 
experience. These different ' tenders, with the nu- 
merous specimens of cable and materials, were at 
once submitted to a Consulting Committee composed 
in part of members of the Committee which had 
already rendered such service by its advice. It con- 
sisted of Captain Douglas Galton, William Fairbairn, 
Professor C. Wheatstone, William Whitworth and 
Professor William Thomson. There were no more 
distinguished engineers and electricians in the world. 
They examined all the proposals, and then, taking up 
one by one the different samples of cable, caused them 
in turn to be subjected to the severest tests. This 
took a long time, as it required a great number of 
experiments ; but the result was highly satisfactory. 
The Committee were all of one mind, and recom- 
mended unanimously that the Board should accept the 
tender of Messrs. Glass, Elliot & Co., and the general 
principle of their proposed cable ; but advised that 
before settling the final specification, every portion of 
the material to be employed should be tested with the 
greatest care, both separately and in combination, so 
as to ascertain what further improvements could be 
made. To this the manufacturers readily consented, 
feeling a noble ambition to justify the confidence of 
the Committee and the public. They provided abund- 
ant materials for fresh experiments. New cables were 
made and tested in different lengths ; and experiments 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1865. 243 

were also tried upon different qualities of wire and 
hemp, that were to compose its external protection. 
The result of all these investigations was the selection 
of a model which seemed to combine every excellence, 
and to approach absolute perfection. 

Such was the cable which this eminent firm offered 
to manufacture, and to lay across the Atlantic, and 
that on terms so favorable, that it seemed as if it could 
not be difficult to raise the capital and proceed with 
the work. Indeed, a contract was parti ally made to 
that effect. So confident was Mr. Field, who was 
then in London, that an expedition would sail the 
following summer, that he insured his stock, part 
of it only against ordinary sea-risks, but part also 
to be laid and to work ! But hardly had he left 
England before there was some unforeseen hitch in 
the arrangements, the money was not forthcoming, 
or some of the conditions were not complied with, 
and he had the mortification to receive letters, say- 
ing that the whole enterprise was postponed for 

another vear! 

*j 

This was indeed discouraging. Yet this sudden 
dropping of the scheme did not imply a loss of interest 
or of faith on the part of those embarked in it. They 
believed in it as much as ever. But the general public 
did not respond to the call for more capital. Alas 
that the noblest enterprises should so often be delayed 
or defeated by the want of money ! Capital is always 



244 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

cautious and timid, and follows slowly in the path of 
great discoveries. If Columbus, instead of the patron- 
age of a Queen full of womanly enthusiasm, had de- 
pended on a stock company for the means for his expe- 
dition, he might never have sailed from the shores of 
Spain. Happy was it for mankind that his faith and 
patience did not wear out, while going from court to 
court, and kingdom to kingdom, and almost begging 
his way from door to door ! 

But it is not in human nature — least of all in Amer- 
ican nature — to despond long. Though ten years of 
constant defeat would seem to have wrought a lasting 
discouragement, yet again and again did the baffled 
spirit of enterprise return to the attempt. In January, 
1864, Mr. Field was once more on his w^ay to England. 
He found the Directors, as before, deeply interested in 
the enterprise, and wishing it success. With a grateful 
heart he bore witness to their unfaltering courage. 
But mere courage and good wishes would not lay the 
Atlantic Telegraph. Yet what could they do ? They 
could not be expected to advance all the capital them- 
selves. They had already subscribed liberally, and he 
could not ask them to do more. But with all the 
efforts that had been made in England and America, 
not half the capital was yet raised. The machinery 
was in a dead lock, with little prospect of being able 
to move. It was the misfortune of the enterprise that 
there was no one man who made it his sole and exclu- 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1865. 245 

sive charge. The Board of Directors contained some 
of the best men in London. But they were, almost 
without exception, engaged in very large affairs of 
their own, with no leisure to make a public enterprise 
their special care. To insure success, it needed a trial 
of the one-man power — one brain, planning night and 
day ; one agency incessantly at work, stirring up di- 
rectors, contractors, and engineers ; and one will push- 
ing it forward by main strength. This was the force 
now to be applied. 

The first element needed to put life into the old 
system was an infusion of new blood — new capital and 
new men. While the enterprise was in this state of 
collapse, Mr. Field addressed himself to a gentleman 
with whom, until then, he had no personal acquaint- 
ance, but who was well known in London as one of 
the largest capitalists of Great Britain — Mr. Thomas 
Brassey. Their first interview was somewhat remark- 
able. Referring to it a few months after, Mr. Field 
said : 

"When I arrived in this country, in January last, the 
Atlantic Telegraph Company trembled in the balance. We 
were in want of funds, and were in negotiations with the 
government, and making great exertions to raise the money. 
At this juncture I was introduced to a gentleman of great 
integrity and enterprise, who is well known, not only for his 
wealth, but for his foresight, and in attempting to enlist him 
in our cause he put me through such a cross-examination as 
I had never before experienced, I thought I was in the wit- 



246 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

ness-box. He inquired of me the practicability of the scheme 
— what it would pay, and every thing else connected with it ; 
but before I left him, I had the pleasure of hearing him say 
that it was a great national enterprise that ought to be car- 
ried out, and, he added, I will be one of ten to find the 
money required for it. From that day to this he has never 
hesitated about it, and when I mention his name, you will 
know him as a man whose word is as good as his bond, and 
as for his bond, there is no better in England." 

Having thus secured one powerful ally, Mr. Field 
took courage in the hope to find another. He saj^s : 

"The words spoken by Mr. Brassey in the latter part of 
January, 'Let the Electric Telegraph be laid between 
England and America,' encouraged us all, and made us 
believe we should succeed in raising the necessary capital, 
and I then went to work to find nine other Thomas Bras- 
seys (I did not know whether he was an Englishman, a 
Scotchman, or an Irishman ; but I made up my mind that 
he combined all the good qualities of every one of them), 
and after considerable search I met with a rich friend from 
Manchester, Mr. [now Sir] John Pender, and I asked him if 
he would second Mr. Brassey, and walked with him from 28 
Pall Mall to the House of Commons, of which he is a mem- 
ber. Before we reached the House, he expressed his willing- 
ness to do so to an equal amount." 

This was putting strong arms to the wheel. A few 
days after, a combination was formed to carry on the 
whole business of making Submarine Telegraphs, by 
a union of the Gutta-Percha Company with the firm 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1865. 247 

of Glass, Elliot & Co., the principal manufacturers of 
sea cables, making one grand concern, to be called 
The Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Com- 
pany. These two great capitalists entered into the 
new organization, of which Mr. Pender was made 
Chairman. The Gutta-Percha Company brought in 
still further strength to the joint enterprise, in the per- 
son of Mr. Willoughby Smith, their electrician, and of 
Mr. John Chatterton, the inventor of the insulat- 
ing material known as Chatterton's Compound. The 
union of all these men made a combination of prac- 
tical skill and financial ability, such as could be found 
in few companies in England or in the world. Mr. Ii. 
A. Glass was chosen Managing Director — a gentleman 
who seemed born to be a manager, such power had he 
of gathering about him talent in every department and 
combining all into one organization. Reenforced by 
such powerful aid, the new Company now came for- 
ward, and offered at one stroke to take all the remain- 
ing stock of the Compan} T . This was more than half 
the whole capital. As yet, of the £600,000 required, 
but £285,000 had been subscribed. Now this princely 
Company offered to take the balance themselves — 
£315,000. They did more, they took £100,000 of 
bonds : and so by one dead lift these stalwart Eng- 
lishmen took the whole enterprise on their broad 
shoulders. From that hour the problem was solved. 
Thus after a dead lock of six months the wheels 



248 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

were unloosed, and the gigantic machinery began to 
revolve. 

This was a triumph worthy to be honored in the 
way that Englishmen love, by a little festivity ; and 
as it chanced to be now ten years since Mr. Field had 
embarked in the enterprise, the pleasant thought oc- 
curred to him of getting his friends together to cele- 
brate the anniversary. Accordingly, on the fifteenth 
of March, he invited them to dine together at the Buck- 
ingham Palace Hotel. It was a joyous occasion, and 
called forth the usual amount of toasts and speeches. 
Of the latter, those of Mr. Adams, the American Min- 
ister, and of John Bright, were widely copied in the 
United States. The next day was the annual meeting 
of the Atlantic Telegraph Company, when the Chair- 
man, the Right Hon. James Stuart "Wortley, thus 
referred to the gathering of the night before : 

" Without saying* any thing to detract from my deep grati- 
tude to the other Directors, I cannot help especially alluding 
to Mr. Cyrus Field, who is present to-day, and who has 
crossed the Atlantic thirty-one times in the service of this 
Company, having celebrated at his table yesterday the anni- 
versary of the tenth year of the day when he first left Bos- 
ton in the service of the Company. Collected round his 
table last night was a company of distinguished men — mem- 
bers of Parliament, great capitalists, distinguished merchants 
and manufacturers, engineers and men of science, such as is 
rarely found together even in the highest house in this great 
metropolis. It was very agreeable to see an American citizen 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1865. 249 

so surrounded. It was still more gratifying, inasmuch as we 
were there to celebrate the approaching accomplishment of 
the Atlantic Telegraph." 

This was a congratulation on an escape from, death, 
for their cherished scheme had just passed through a 
critical period of its history. The enterprise had been 
in great danger of abandonment — at least for years, a 
peril from which it had been rescued only by the most 
prompt and vigorous effort. 

Thus after infinite toil, the wreck of old disasters 
was cleared away, and the mighty task begun anew. 
The works of the Telegraph Construction and Main- 
tenance Company were the largest in the world, and 
all their resources were now put in requisition. Never 
did greater care preside over a public enterprise. It was 
a case in which the motive of interest was seconded 
or overborne by pride and ambition. A cable was to 
be made to span the Atlantic Ocean, and to join the 
hemispheres ; and they were determined to produce a 
work that should be as nearly perfect as human skill 
could make it. The Scientific Committee, that had so 
long investigated the subject, had approved a particular 
form of cable, as " the one most calculated to insure 
success in the present state of our experimental knowl- 
edge respecting deep-sea cables," but at the same time 
recommended the utmost vigilance at every stage of 
the manufacture. These precautions deserve to be 
noted, as showing with what jealous care science 



250 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

watches over the birth of a great enterprise, and pre- 
scribes the conditions of success. They recommended : 

That the conductivity of the wire should be fixed at a 
high standard, certainly not less than eighty-five per cent ; 
that the cable should be at least equal to the best ever made ; 
that the core should be electrically perfect; that it should be 




OLD ATLANTIC CABLE, 1858. 




1865. 



tested under hydraulic pressure, and at the highest pressure 
attainable in the tanks at the Company's works ; that after 
this pressure, the core should be examined again, and before 
receiving its outer covering, he required to pass the full elec- 
trical test under water ; that careful and frequent mechanical 
tests be made upon the iron wire and hemp as to their strength ; 
that special care be given to the joints, where different 
lengths of cable were spliced together ; and that when com- 



THE EXPEDITION OP 1865. 251 

pleted, the whole be tested under water for some length of 
time, at a temperature of seventy-five degrees. 

This was higher by forty degrees than the tempera- 
ture of the Atlantic. The insulation is improved by 
cold ; so that, if it remained perfect in this warm water, 
it could not fail in the icy depths of the ocean. 

After passing through such elaborate tests, all will 
be glad to see the final product of so much care and 
skill. As the long line begins to reel off from the 
great wheels and drums, we may examine it in its com- 
pleted and more perfect form. It is only necessary to 
compare it with the cable laid in 1858, to show its 
immense superiority. A glance at the two as they 
appear on the preceding page will show that the cable 
had grown since first it was planted in the ocean, as if 
it were a living product of the sea. This growth had 
been in every part, from core to circumference. 

First, the central copper wire, which was the spinal 
cord, the nerve along which the centre current was to 
run, was nearly three times as large as before. Prof. 
Thomson had long seen that this was a condition of 
success. . While joining heartily in the attempts of 
1857-58, he felt that an error was committed in the 
smallness of the cable ; that the copper conductors and 
the gutta-percha covering should both be much larger. 
The old conductor was a strand consisting of seven 
fine wires, six laid round one, and weighed only one 
hundred and seven pounds to the mile. The new was 



252 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

composed of the same number of wires, but weighed 
three hundred pounds to the mile. As it was made 
of the finest copper that could be obtained in the 
world, it was a perfect conductor. Next, to secure 
insulation, it w^as first imbedded for solidity in Chat- 
terton's compound, a preparation impervious to water, 
and then covered with four layers of gutta-percha, 
w r hich w r ere laid on alternately with four thin layers of 
Chatterton's compound. The old cable had but three 
coatings of gutta-percha, with nothing between. Its 
entire insulation weighed but two hundred and sixty- 
one pounds to the mile, while that of the new weighed 
four hundred pounds. 

* But a conductor ever so perfect, with insulation 
complete, was useless without proper external pro- 
tection, to guard it against the dangers which must 
attend the long and difficult process of laying it across 
the ocean. The old cable had broken a number of 
times. The new must be made stronger. To this end 
it was incased with ten solid wires of the best iron, 
or rather, of a soft steel, like that used in the making 
of Whitworth's cannon. This made the cable much 
heavier than before. The old cable weighed but 
twenty cwt. to the mile, while the new one reached 
thirty-five cwt. and three quarters. But mere size 
and w r eight were nothing, except as they indicated 
increased strength. This was secured, not only by 
the larger iron wires, but by a further coating of rope. 



THE EXPEDITION OP 1865. 253 

Each wire was surrounded separately with five strands 
of Manilla yarn, saturated with a preservative com- 
pound, and the whole laid spirally round the core, 
which latter was padded with ordinary hemp, satu- 
rated with the same preservative mixture. This rope 
covering was important in several respects. It kept 
the wires from coming in contact with the salt water, 
by which they might be corroded ; and while it added 
greatly to the strength of the cable, it gave it also its 
own flexibility — so that while it had the strength of an 
iron chain, it had also the lightness and flexibility of 
a common ship's rope. This union of two qualities 
was all-important. The great problem had been to 
combine strength with flexibility. Mere dead weight 
was an objection. The new cable, though nearly 
twice as heavy as the old in air, when immersed in 
water, weighed but a trifle more ; so that it was really 
much lighter in proportion to its size. This increased 
lightness was a very important matter in laying the 
cable, as it caused it to sink slowly. The old cable, 
though smaller, w T as heavy almost as a rod of iron, so 
that, as it ran out, it dropped at an angle w r hich exposed 
it to great danger in case of a sudden lurch of the ship. 
Thus in 1857 it was broken by the stern of the Niagara 
being thrown up on a wave just as the brakes were 
shut down. Now the cable, being partially buoyed by 
the rope, would float out to a great distance from the 
ship, and sink down slowly in the deep waters. 



254 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

By this combination of rope and iron, a cable was 
secured two and a half times as strong as the old — the 
breaking strain of the former having been three tons 
five cwt., and of the latter seven tons and fifteen cwt. 
Or, to put it in another form, the contract strain of the 
former was less than five times its own weight per 
mile in water ; so that if the cable had been laid in 
some parts of the Atlantic, where the ocean is more 
than five miles deep, it would have broken under the 
enormous strain. But the contract strain of the new 
cable was equal to eleven times its weight per mile in 
water, w T hich, as the greatest depth of water to be 
passed was but two and a half miles, rendered the 
cable more than four times as strong as was required. 

This great chain which was to bind the sea was to 
be 2,300 nautical miles long, or nearly 2,700 statute 
miles ! But where could this enormous bulk be 
stowed ? Its weight would sink the Spanish Armada. 
In 1858, the cable loaded down two of the largest 
ships of war in the world, the Niagara and the Aga- 
memnon. Yet now one much larger and bulkier was 
to be taken on board. This might have proved a 
serious embarrassment, but that a few years before 
there had been built in England a ship of 'enormous 
proportions. The Great Eastern, whose iron walls had 
been reared by the genius of Brunei, had been for ten 
years waiting for " a mission." As a specimen of 
marine architecture she was perfect. She walked the 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1865. 255 

waters in towering pride, scarce bending her imperial 
head to the waves that broke against her sides, as 
against the rocks of the shore. But with all her noble 
qualities, she was too great for the ordinary demands of 
commerce. Her very size was against her ; and while 
smaller ships, on which she looked down with contempt, 
were continually flying to and fro across the sea, this 

leviathan, 

Hugest of all God's works 
That swim the ocean stream, 

could find nothing worthy of her greatness. Here 
then was the vessel to receive the Atlantic cable. 

Seeing her fitness for the purpose, a few of the gen- 
tlemen who were active in reviving the Atlantic Tele- 
graph combined to purchase her, as she was about to 
be sold. One of them Went down with all speed to 
Liverpool, and the next day telegraphed that the big 
ship was theirs. The new owners at once put her at 
the service of the Atlantic Company, with the express 
agreement that any compensation for her use should 
depend on the success of the expedition. 

Next to the good fortune of finding such a ship 
ready to their hands, was that of finding an officer 
worthy to command her. Captain James Anderson, 
of the China, one of the Cunard steamers, had long 
been known to the travelling public, both of England 
and America, and no one ever crossed the sea with him 
without the strongest feeling of respect for his manly 



256 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

and seamanly qualities. A thorough master of his pro- 
fession, having followed the sea for a quarter of a cen- 
tury, he was also a man of much general intelligence, 
and of no small scientific attainments. But it was 
something more than this which inspired such confi- 
dence. It was his ceaseless watchfulness. He always 
carried with him a feeling of religious responsibility 
for the lives of all on board, and for every interest 
committed to him. A man of few words, modest in 
manner, he was yet clear in judgment and prompt in 
action. This vigilance was especially marked in mo- 
ments of danger. When a storm was gathering, all 
who saw that tall figure on the wheel-house, watching 
with a keen eye every spar in the ship and every cloud 
in the horizon, felt a new security from being under 
his care. Such was the man to be put in charge of a 
great expedition. He was recommended by Mr. Field 
in the strongest terms, and was chosen unanimously by 
the Board. The Cunard Company, with great gener- 
osity, consented to give up his services, valuable as 
they were, to forward an enterprise of such public 
interest. Being thus free, he accepted the trust, and 
entered upon it with enthusiasm. How well he ful- 
filled the expectations of all, the sequel will show.* 

* Nearly a year and a half after this, when the cable was safely landed 
in Newfoundland, Captain Anderson, still on board the Great Eastern, 
in a letter to a friend, thus referred to his first connection with the 
Atlantic Telegraph : — 

" I cannot tell you how I have felt since our success. It is only sev- 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1865. 257 

The work now went on with speed. The wheels 
began to hum, and the great drums to reel off that 
line which, considering the distance it was to span, 
was hardly to be measured by miles, but rather by 
degrees of the earth's surface. Mere figures give but 
a vague impression of vast spaces. But it is a curious 
fact, ascertained by an exact computation, that if all 
the wires of copper and of iron, with the layers that 
made up the core and the outer covering, and the 
strands of yarn that were twisted into this one knotted 
sea-cable, were placed end to end, the whole length 
would reach from the earth to the moon ! 

enteen mouths since I first walked up to the top of the paddle-box of 
this ship at Sheerness, upou a dark, raiuy night — reviewed my past 
career in my mind, and tried to look into the future, to see what I had 
undertaken, and realize if possible what this uew step would develop. I 
cannot say I believed much in cables; I rather think I did not; but I 
did believe Mr. Field was an earnest man, of great force of character, 
and working under a strong conviction that what he was attempting was 
thoroughly practicable ; and I knew enough of the names with which he 
had associated himself in the enterprise to feel that it was a real, true, 
honest effort, worthy of all the energy and application of one's man- 
hood ; and come what might in the future, I resolved to do my very 
utmost, and to do nothing else until it was over. More completely how- 
ever than my resolve foreshadowed, I dropped inch by inch, or step by 
step, into the work, until I had no mind, no soul, no sleep, that was not 
tinged with cable. In a word I accuse Mr. Field of having dragged me 
into a vortex, that I could not get out of, and did not wish to try— and 
the sum total of all this is, to lay a thread across an ocean ! Dr. Russell 
compared it to an elephant stretching a cobweb, and there lay its very 
danger: the more you multiply the mechanism, the more you increase 
the risk." 

17 



258 STORY OP THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

As it came from the works in its completed state, it 
was plunged in water, to make it familiar with the ele- 
ment which was to be its future home. In the yards 
of the Company stood eight large tanks, which could 
hold each a hundred and forty miles. Here the cable 
was coiled to " hibernate," till it should be wanted for 
use the coming spring. 

Seeing the work thus well under way, with no 
chance of another disastrous check, Mr. Field left 
England with heart at rest, and returned to America 
for the winter. But the first days of spring saw him 
again on the Atlantic. He reached England on the 
eighteenth of March. His visit was more satisfactory 
than a year before. The work was now well ad- 
vanced. It was a goodly sight to go down to Mor- 
den Wharf at Greenwich, and see the huge machinery 
in motion, spinning off the leagues of deep-sea line. 
The triumph apparently was near at hand. It seemed 
indeed a predestined thing that the cable should final- 
ly be laid in the year of grace 1865 — the end for which 
he had so faithfully toiled since 1858 — seven weary 
years — as long as Jacob served for Rachel ! But, less 
fortunate than Jacob, he was doomed to one more 
disappointment. At present, however, all looked well, 
and he could not but regard the prospect with satis- 
faction. 

Having no more drudgery of raising money, he had 
now a few weeks' leisure to take a voyage up the 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1865. 259 

Mediterranean. The canal across the Isthmus of Suez, 
which had been so long in progress, under the super- 
vision of French engineers, was at length so far ad- 
vanced that the waters of the Mediterranean were 
about to mingle with those of the Red Sea, and dele- 
gates were invited to be present from all parts of the 
world. An invitation had been sent to the Chamber of 
Commerce in New York, and Mr. Field, then starting 
for Europe, was appointed as its representative. The 
visit was one of extraordinary interest. The occasion 
brought together a number of eminent engineers from 
every country of Europe, in company with whom this 
stranger from the New World visited the most ancient 
of kingdoms to see the spirit of modern enterprise in- 
vading the land of the Pyramids. 

He returned to England about the first of May to 
find the work nearly completed. The cable w^as al- 
most done, and a large part of it was already coiled 
on board the ship. This was an operation of much 
interest, which deserves to be described. The manu- 
facture had begun on the first of September, and had 
gone on for eight months without ceasing, the works 
turning out fourteen miles a day even during the short 
days of winter. As the spring advanced, and the 
days grew longer, the amount was of course much in- 
creased. But by the last of January they had already 
accumulated about nine hundred miles of completed 
cable, when began the long and tedious work of trans- 



260 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

ferring it to the Great Eastern. It was thus slow, be- 
cause it could not be made directly from the yard to 
the ship. The depth of water at Greenwich was not 
such as to allow the Great Eastern to be brought up 
alongside the wharf. She was lying at Sheerness, 
thirty miles below, and the cable had to be put on 
board of lighters and taken down to where she lay in 
the stream. For this purpose the Admiralty had fur- 
nished to the Company two old hulks, the Iris and 
the Amethyst, which took their loads in turn. When 
the former had taken on board some two hundred and 
fifty tons of cable, she was towed down to the side 
of the Great Eastern, and the other took her place. 

This, was an operation which could not be done with 
speed. With all the men who could be employed, they 
coiled on board only about two miles an hour, or 
twenty miles a day — at which rate it would take some 
five months. The work began on the nineteenth of 
January, early in the morning, and continued till 
June, before all was safely stowed on board. The 
Great Eastern herself had been fitted up to receive 
her enormous burden. It was an object to stow the 
cable in as few coils as possible. Yet it could not be 
all piled in one mass. Such a dead weight in the 
centre of the ship would cause her to roll fearfully. 
If coiled in one circle, it was computed that it would 
nearly fill Astley's theatre from the floor of the cir- 
cus to the roof— making a pile fifty -eight feet wide 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1865. 261 

and sixty feet high. To distribute this enormous 
bulk and weight, it was disposed in three tanks — 
one aft, one amidships, and one forward. The lat- 
ter, from the shape of the ship, was a little smaller 
than the others, and held only six hundred and thirty- 
three miles of cable, while the two former held a lit- 
tle over eight hundred each. All were made of 
thick wrought-iron plates, and water-tight, so that 
the cable could be kept under water till it was im- 
mersed in the sea. 

Thus with her spacious chambers prepared for the 
reception of her guest, the Great Eastern opened her 
doors to take in the Atlantic cable ; and long as it was 5 
and wide and high the space it filled, it found ample 
verge and room within her capacious sides. Indeed, 
it was the wonder of all who beheld it, how, like a 
monster of the sea, she devoured all that other ships 
could bring. The Iris and the Amethyst came up time 
after time and disgorged their iron contents. Yet this 
leviathan swallowed ship-load after ship-load, as if she 
could never be satisfied. A writer who visited her 
when the cable was nearly all on board, was at a loss 
to find it. He looked along the deck, from stem to 
stern, but not a sign of it appeared. How he searched, 
and how the wonder grew, he tells in a published let- 
ter. After describing his approach to the ship, and 
climbing up her sides and his survey of her deck, he 
proceeds : 



262 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

"But it is time that we should look after what we have 
mainly come to see, the telegraph cable. To our intense 
astonishment, we behold it nowhere, although informed that 
there are nearly two thousand miles of it already on board, 
and the remaining' piece — a piece long enough to stretch 
from Land's End to John O'Groat's — is in course of ship- 
ment. We walk up and down on the deck of the Great 
Eastern without seeing this gigantic chain which is to bind 
together the Old and the New World ; and it is only on 
having the place pointed out to us that we find where the 
cable lies and by what process it is taken on board. On the 
side opposite to where we landed, deep below the deck of our 
giant, there is moored a vessel surmounted by a timber struc- 
ture resembling a house, and from this vessel the wonderful 
telegraph cable is drawn silently into the immense womb of 
the Great Eastern. The work is done so quietly and noise- 
lessly, by means of a small steam-engine, that we scarcely 
notice it. Indeed, were it not pointed out to us, we would 
never think that that little iron cord, about an inch in 
diameter, which is sliding over a few rollers and through a 
wooden table, is a thing of world-wide fame — a thing which 
may influence the life of whole nations; nay, which may 
affect the march of civilization. Following the direction in 
which the iron rope goes, we now come to the most mar- 
vellous sight yet seen on board the Great Eastern. We find 
ourselves in a little wooden cabin, and look down, over a 
railing at the side, into an immense cavern below. This 
cavern is one of the three ' tanks ' in which the two-thou- 
sand-mile cable is finding a temporary home. The passive 
agent of electricity comes creeping in here in a beautiful, 
silent manner, and is deposited in spiral coils, layer upon 
layer. It is almost dark at the immense depth below, and 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1865. 263 

we can only dimly discern the human figures through whose 
hands the coil passes to its bed. Suddenly, however, the 
men begin singing. They intone a low. plaintive song of 
the sea ; something like Kingsley's 

' Three fishers went sailing away to the West, 
Away to the West as the sun went down — ' 

the sounds of which rise up from the dark, deep cavern with 
startling effect, and produce an indescribable impression. 

' ' We proceed on ; but the song of the sailors who are 
taking charge of the Atlantic Telegraph cable is haunting 
us like a dream. In vain our guide conducts us all over 
the big ship, through miles of galleries, passages, staircases, 
aud promenades ; through gorgeous saloons, full of mir- 
rors, marbles, paintings, and upholstery, made ' regardless 
of expense ; ' and through buildings crowded with glitter- 
ing steam apparatus of gigantic dimensions, where the 
latent power of coal and water creates the force which 
propels this monster vessel over the seas. In vain our at- 
tention is directed to all these sights : we do not admire 
them ; our imagination is used up. The echo of the sailors' 
song in the womb of the Great Eastern will not be ban- 
ished from our mind. It raises visions of the future of 
the mystic iron coil under our feet — how it will roll forth 
again from its narrow berth ; how it will sink to the bot- 
tom of the Atlantic, or hang from mountain to mountain 
far below the stormy waves ; and how two great nations, 
offsprings of one race and pioneers of civilization, will 
speak through this wonderful coil, annihilating distance 
and time. Who can help dreaming here, on the spot where 
we stand ? For it is truly a marvellous romance of civiliza- 
tion, this Great Eastern and this Atlantic Telegraph cable= 



264 STORY OP THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

Even should our age produce nothing else, it alone would be 
the triumph of our age." 

As the work approached completion, public interest 
revived in the stupendous undertaking, and crowds of 
wonder-seekers came down from London to see the 
preparations for the expedition. Even if not admitted 
on board, they found a satisfaction in sailing round the 
great ship, in whose mighty bosom was coiled this 
huge sea-serpent. It had also many distinguished vis- 
itors. Among others, the Prince of Wales came to see 
the ocean girdle which was to link the British islands 
with his future dominions beyond the sea. 

At length, on the twenty -ninth of May, almost the 
last day of Spring, the manufacture of the cable was 
finished. The machines which for eight months had 
been in a constant whirl, made their last round. The 
tinkling of a bell announced that the machinery was 
empty, and the mighty work stood completed. It 
only remained that it should be got on board, and the 
ship prepared for her voyage. Hundreds of busy 
hands were at work without ceasing, and yet it was six 
weeks before she was ready to put to sea. 

It may well be believed that it was no small affair 
to equip such an expedition. Beside the enormous 
burden of the cable itself, the Great Eastern had to 
take on board seven or eight thousand tons of coal, 
enough for a fleet, to feed her fires. Then she carried 
about five hundred men, for whom she had to make 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1865. 265 

provision during the weeks they might be at sea. 
The stores laid in were enough for a small army. 
Standing on the wheel-house, and looking down, one 
might fancy himself in some large farm -yard of Eng- 
land. There stood the motherly cow that was to give 
them milk ; and a dozen oxen, and twenty pigs, and a 
hundred and twenty sheep, while whole flocks of 
ducks and geese, and fowls of every kind, cackled as 
in a poultry -yard. Beside all this live stock, hun- 
dreds of barrels of provisions, of meats and fruits, were 
stored in the well-stocked larder below. Thus laden 
for her voyage, the Great Eastern had in her a weight, 
including her own machinery, of twenty-one thousand 
tons — a burden almost as great as could have been car- 
ried by the whole fleet with which Nelson fought the 
battle of Trafalgar. 

As the time of departure drew near, public curiosity 
was excited, and there was an extraordinary desire to 
witness the approaching attempt. The Company was 
besieged by applications from all quarters for permis- 
sion to accompany the expedition. Had these re- 
quests been granted, on the scale asked, even the large 
dimensions of the Great Eastern could hardly have 
been sufficient for the crowds on board. The demand 
was most pressing for places for newspaper correspond- 
ents. These came not only from England, but from 
France and America. Almost every journal in Lon- 
don claimed the privilege of being represented. The 



266 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

result was what might have been expected. As it was 
impossible to satisfy all, and to discriminate in favor of 
some, and exclude others, would seem partial and un- 
just, they were finally obliged to exclude all. Of 
course this gave great offence. There was an outcry 
in England and in the United States at what was de- 
nounced as a selfish and suicidal policy. But it is 
doubtful whether any other possible course would have 
given better satisfaction. 

Whether the Managers erred in this or not, it should 
be said that they applied the same inexorable rule to 
themselves — even Directors of the Company being ex- 
cluded, unless they had some special business on board. 

It should be borne in mind that the expedition was 
not under the control of the Atlantic Telegraph Com- 
pany at all, but of the Telegraph Construction and 
Maintenance Company, which had undertaken the 
work in fulfilment of a contract with the former Com- 
pany to manufacture and lay down a cable across the 
Atlantic, in which it assumed the whole responsibility, 
not only making the cable, but chartering the ship 
and appointing the officers, and sending its own engi- 
neers to lay it down. Of course it had an enormous 
stake in the result. Hence it felt, not only authorized, 
but bound, to organize the expedition solely with refer- 
ence to success. It was not a voyage of pleasure, but 
for business ; for the accomplishment of a great and 
most difficult undertaking. Hence it was right that 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1865. 267 

the most strict rules should be adopted. Accordingly 
there was not a man on board who had not some busi- 
ness there. As the voyage promised to be one of the 
utmost practical interest to electricians and engineers, 
several young men were received as assistants in the 
testing-room or in the engineers' department; but there 
was no person who was not in some way engaged on 
the business of one or the other company, or con- 
nected with the management of the ship. Except 
Mr. Field, not an Atlantic Telegraph Director ac- 
companied the expedition ; and he represented also 
the Newfoundland Company. Mr. Gooch, M.P., was 
at once a Director of the Telegraph Construction and 
Maintenance Company, and Chairman of the Board 
that owned the Great Eastern, and so represented 
both those companies which had so great a stake in 
the result. 

Thus the whole business was in the hands of the 
Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company. 
It had its own officers to man the expedition — the 
captain and crew to sail the ship — its engineers to 
lay the cable — and its electricians to test it. Even the 
eminent electricians, Professor Thomson and Mr. Var- 
ley, who were on board in the service of the Atlan- 
tic Telegraph Company, were not allowed to interfere, 
nor even to give advice unless it were asked for in writ- 
ing, and then it was to be given in writing. Their 
office was only to test the cable when laid, to pass 



268 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

messages through it from Newfoundland to Ireland, 
and to report it complete. 

So rigorous were the rules which governed this 
memorable voyage. The whole enterprise was organ- 
ized as completely as a naval expedition. Every man 
had his place. As when a ship is going into battle, 
everybody is sent below that has not some business 
on deck, so it is not strange that in such a critical 
enterprise they did not want a host of supernumeraries 
on board. 

Yet the Company was not unmindful of the anxiety 
of the public for news, and since it could not give 
a place to many correspondents, it engaged one, and 
that the best — W. H. Russell, LL.D., the well-known 
correspondent of the London Times in the Crimea 
and in India. This brilliant writer wa& engaged to 
accompany the expedition — not to praise without dis- 
crimination, but to report events faithfully from day 
to day. He was accompanied by two artists, Mr. 
O'Neill and Mr. Dudley, to illustrate the scenes of the 
voyage. Thus the Company made every provision to 
furnish information and even entertainment to the 
public. Several of these gentlemen afterward wrote 
accounts for different magazines — Blackwood, Cornhill, 
and Macmillan's. Their different reports, and espe- 
cially the volume of Dr. Russell, which combines the 
accuracy and minuteness of a diary kept from day to 
day, with brilliant descriptions, set off by illustrations 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1865. 269 

from drawings of Mr. Dudley, furnish the public as 
full and complete an account as if there had been a 
special correspondent for every journal of England and 
America. 

But if the public at large were very properly ex- 
cluded, the organization on board was perfect and 
complete. At the head was Captain Anderson, of 
whom we have already spoken. As his duties would 
be manifold and increasing, he had requested the aid 
of an assistant commander, and Captain Moriarty, 
K. N., who had been in the Agamemnon in 1858, was 
permitted by the Admiralty to accompany the ship, 
and to give the invaluable aid of his experience and 
skill. The government also generously granted two 
ships of war, the Sphinx and the Terrible, to attend 
the Great Eastern. Thus the whole equipment of the 
expedition was English. Of the five hundred men on 
board the Great Eastern, there was but one American, 
and that was Mr. Field. 

The engineering department was under charge of 
Mr. (now Sir) Samuel Canning, who, as the representa- 
tive of the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance 
Company, was chief in command of all matters relat- 
ing to laying the cable. For this responsible position 
no better man could have been chosen. Before the 
voyage was ended, he had ample opportunity to show 
his resources. He was ably seconded by Mr. Henry 
Clifford. Both these gentlemen had been on board the 



270 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

Agamemnon in the two expeditions of 1858. They 
had since had large experience in laying submarine 
cables in the Mediterranean and other seas. It was 
chiefly by their united skill that the paying-out ma- 
chinery had been brought to such perfection, that 
throughout the voyage it worked without a single 
hitch or jar. They had an invaluable helper in Mr. 
John Temple. 

The electrical department was under charge of Mr. 
De Sauty, who had had long experience in submarine 
telegraphs, and who was aided by an efficient corps of 
assistants. Professor Thomson and Mr. Parley, as we 
have said, were there to examine and report for the 
Atlantic Company. All these gentlemen had been un- 
ceasing in their tests of the cable in every form, both 
while in the process of manufacture and after it was 
coiled in the Great Eastern. The result of their repeated 
tests was to demonstrate that the cable was many times 
more perfect than the contract required. With such 
marvellous delicacy did they test the current of electri- 
city sent through it, that it was determined that of one 
thousand parts, over nine hundred and ninety-nine 
came out at the other end ! 

To complete this organization and equipment caused 
such delays as excited the impatience of all on board. 
But at length, when midsummer had fully come — at 
noon of Saturday, July fifteenth — the song of the 
sailors sounded the chant clu depart. The Great East- 



THE EXPEDITION OP 1865. 271 

ern was then lying at the Nore, and she seemed to 
cling to the English soil which she had griped with 
a huge Trotman weighing seven, tons, held fast by a 
chain whereof every link weighed seventy pounds ! 
To wrench this ponderous anchor from its bed required 
the united strength of near two hundred men. At last 
the bottom lets go its hold, the anchor swings to the 
bow, the gun is fired, and the voyage is begun. A 
fleet of yachts and boats raise their cheers as the 
mighty hull begins to move. But mark how carefully 
she feels her way, following the lead of yonder little 
steamer, the Porcupine, the same faithful guide that 
seven years before led the Niagara up Trinity Bay one 
night when the faint light of stars twinkled on all the 
surrounding hills. Slowly they near the sea. Now 
the cliffs of Dover are in sight, and bidding her escort 
adieu, the Great Eastern glides along by the beautiful 
Isle of Wight, and then quickening her speed, with a 
royal sweep, she moves down the Channel. Off Fal- 
mouth she picked up the Caroline, a small steamer, 
which had left several days before with the shore end 
on board. She was laboring heavily with her burden, 
and made little headway in the rough waves. But the 
Great Eastern took her in tow, and she followed like a 
ship's boat in the wake of the monarch of the seas. 

Thus they passed round to the coast of Ireland, to 
that Valentia Bay where, eight years before, the Earl 
of Carlisle gave his benediction on the departure of 



272 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

the Niagara and the Agamemnon, and where, a year 
later, the gallant English ship brought her end of the 
cable safely to the shore. 

The point of landing had been changed from Va- 
lentia harbor five or six miles to Foilhommerum Bay, ' 
a wild spot where huge cliffs hang over the waves 
that here come rolling in from the Atlantic. On the 
top, an old tower of the time of Cromwell tells of the 
bloody days of England's great civil war. It is now 
but a mossy ruin. Here the peasants who flocked in 
from the country pitched their booths on the green 
sward, and looked down from the dizzv heights on 
the boats dancing in the bay below. At the foot of 
the cliff, a soft, sandy beach forms a bed for the cable, 
and here, as it issues from the sea, it is led up a chan- 
nel which had been cut for it in the rocks. 

As the shore end was very massive and unwieldy, 
it could not be laid except in good weather ; and as 
the sea was now rough, the Great Eastern withdrew 
to Ban try Bay, to be out of the way of the storms 
which sometimes break with fury on this rock-bound 
coast. 

On Saturday this preliminary work was completed, 
the heavy shore end was carried from the deck of the 
Caroline across a bridge of boats 'to the beach, and 
hauled up the cliffs amid the shouts of the people. 
When once it was made fast to the rocks, the little 
steamer began to move, and the huge coil slowly un- 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1865. 273 

wound, and like a giant awakened, stretched out its 
long iron arms. By half-past ten o'clock at night the 
hold was empty, the whole twenty-seven miles having 
been safely laid, and the end buoyed in seventy-five 
fathoms water. A despatch was at once sent across 
the country to Bantry Bay to the Great Eastern to 
come around with all speed, and early the next morn- 
ing her smoke was seen in the offing*. Passing the 
harbor of Yalentia, she proceeded to join the Caro- 
line, which she reached about noon, and at once com- 
menced splicing the massive shore end to her own deep- 
sea line. This was a work of several hours, so that it 
was toward evening before all was completed. 

Thus, so many had been the delays of the past 
week, that it had come on to Sunday before the 
Great Eastern was ready to begin her voyage. This — 
which some might count a desecration of the holy 
day — the sailors rather accepted as a good omen, 
flad the shore end been laid forty-eight hours sooner, 
the voyage might have begun on Friday, which sail- 
ors, who are proverbially superstitious, would have 
thought an unlucky beginning. But Sunday, in their 
esteem, is a good day. They like, when a ship is 
moving out of sight of land, that the last sound from 
the shore should be the blessed Sabbath bells. If that 
sacred chime were not heard to-day, at least a Sabbath 
peace rested on sea and sky. It was a calm summer's 
evening. The sun was just sinking in the waves, as 
18 



274 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

the Great Eastern, with the two ships of war which 
waited, on either hand, to attend her royal progress, 
turned their faces to the "West, and caught the sudden 
glory. Says Russell : " As the sun set, a broad stream 
of golden light was thrown across the smooth billows 
toward their bow r s, as if to indicate and illumine the 
path marked out by the hand of Heaven." What a 
sacred omen ! Had it been the fleet of Columbus sail- 
ing westward, every ship's company would have fallen 
upon their knees on those decks, and burst forth in an 
Ave Maria to the gentle Mistress of the Seas. But 
in that manly crew there was many an eye that took 
in the full beauty of the scene, and many a reverent 
heart that invoked a benediction. 

In other respects the day was well chosen. It was 
the twenty-third of July. From the beginning, Cap- 
tain Anderson had wished to sail on the twenty-third 
of June, or the twenty-second of July, so as to have 
the full moon on the American coast. He desired 
also to take advantage of the westerly winds which 
prevail at that season, for in going against the wind 
the Great Eastern was steady as a rock. Every ex- 
pectation was realized. To the big ship the ocean 
was as an inland lake. The paying-out machinery — 
the product of so much study and skill — worked 
beautifully, and as the ship increased her speed, the 
cable glided into the water with such ease that it 
seemed but a holiday affair to carry it across to yonder 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1865. 275 

continent. Such were the reflections of all that even- 
ing as the long summer twilight lingered on the sea. 
At midnight they went to sleep, to dream of an easy 
triumph. 

Yet be not too confident. But a few hours had 
passed before the booming of a gun awoke all on 
board w^ith the heavy tidings of disaster. The morn- 
ing breaks early in those high latitudes, and by four 
o'clock all were on deck, with anxious looks inquiring 
for the cause of alarm. The ship was lying still, as 
if her voyage had already come to an end, and electri- 
cians, with troubled countenances, w^ere passing in and 
out of the testing-room, which, as it was always kept 
darkened, looked like a sick-chamber where some 
royal patient lay trembling between life and death. 

The method used by the electricians to discover a 
fault is one of such delicacy and beauty as shows the 
marvellous perfection of the instruments which science 
employs to learn the secrets of nature. The galvano- 
meter is an invention of Professor Thomson, by which 
" a ray of light reflected from a tiny mirror suspended 
to a magnet travels along a scale, and indicates the re- 
sistance to the passage of the current through the cable 
by the deflection of the magnet, which is marked by 
the course of this speck of light. If the light of the 
mirror travels beyond the index, or out of bounds, an 
escape of the current is taking place, and what is 
technically called a fault has occurred." Such was 



276 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

the discovery on Monday morning. At a quarter 
past three o'clock the electrician on duty saw the 
light suddenly glide to the end of the scale and 
vanish. 

Fortunately it was not a fatal injury. It did not 
prevent signalling through the cable, and a message 
was at once sent back to the shore, giving notice of 
the check that had been received. But the electric 
current did not flow freely. There was a leak at some 
point of the line which it would not be prudent to pass 
over. They w r ere now seventy-three miles from shore, 
having run out eighty -four miles oj: cable. The tests of 
the electricians indicated the fault to be ten or a dozen 
miles from the stern of the ship. The only safe course 
was to go back and get this on board, and cut out the 
defective portion. It was a most ungrateful operation 
thus to be undoing their own work, but there was no 
help for it. 

Such accidents had been anticipated, and before the 
Great Eastern left England, she had been provided 
with machinery to be used in case of necessity for 
picking up the cable. But this proved rather an 
unwieldy affair. It was at the bow, and as the paying- 
out machine w r as at the stern, the ship had to be got 
round, and the cable, which must first be cut, had to be 
transferred from one end to the other. This was not 
an easy matter. The Great Eastern was an eighth of 
a mile long, and to carry the cable along her sides for 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1865. 277 

this distance, and over her high wheel-houses, was an 
operation at once tedious and difficult. 

But at length the ship's head was brought round, 
and the end of the cable lifted over the bow, and 
grasped by the pulling-in machine, and the engine be- 
gan to puff with the labor of raising the cable from 
the depths of the ocean. Fortunately they were 
only in four or five hundred fathoms water, so that 
the strain w T as not great. But the engine worked 
poorly, and the operation was very slow. With 
the best they could do, it was impossible to raise 
more than a mile an hour ! But patience and cour- 
age, though it should take all day and all night ! * 
The Great Eastern did her duty well, steaming slowly 
back toward Ireland, while the engine pulled, and the 
cable came up, though reluctantly, from the sea, till 
on Tuesday morning at seven o'clock, when they had 
hauled in a little over ten miles, the cause of offence 
was brought on board. It was found to be a small 
piece of wire, not longer than a needle, that by some 
accident (for they did not then suspect a design) had 
been driven through the outer cover of the cable till 
it touched the core. There was the source of all the 

* " All during the night the process of picking up was carefully car- 
ried on, the Big Ship behaving beautifully, and hanging lightly over the 
cable, as if fearful of breaking the slender cord which swayed up and 
down in the ocean. Indeed, so delicately did she answer her helm, and 
coil in the film of thread-like cable over her bows, that she put one in 
mind of an elephant taking up a straw in its proboscis." — Russell. 



278 STORY OP THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

mischief. It was this pin's point which pricked the 
vital cord, opening a minute passage through which 
the electricity, like a jet of blood from a pierced ar- 
tery, went streaming into the sea. It w r as with an 
almost angry feeling, as if to punish it for its intru- 
sion, that this insignificant and contemptible source of 
trouble was snatched from its place, the wounded piece 
of cable was cut off, and a splice made and the work 
of paying out renewed. But it was four o'clock in 
the afternoon of Tuesday before they were read}^ to 
resume the voyage. A full day and a half had been 
lost by this miserable piece of wire. 

But the vexatious delay w^as over at last, and the 
stately ship, once more turning to the West, moved 
ahead with a steady composure, as if no petty trouble 
could vex her tranquil mind. Throughout the voyage 
the behavior of the ship w r as the admiration of all 
on board. "While her consorts on either side were 
pitched about at the mercy of the w r aves, she moved 
forward with a grave demeanor, as if conscious of 
her mission, or as if eager to unburden her mighty 
heart, to throw overboard the great mystery that 
was coiled up within her, and to cast her burden on 
the sea. 

The electricians, too, were elated, and w T ith reason, 
at the perfection of the cable as demonstrated by every 
hour's experience. At intervals of thirty minutes, 
day and night, tests were passed from ship to shore. 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1865. 279 

and to the delight of all, instead of finding the insu- 
lation weakened, it steadily improved as the cable was 
brought into contact with the cold depths of the 
Atlantic. 

All now went well till Saturday, the twenty-ninth, 
when a little after noon there was again a cry from 
the ship, as if once more the cable were wounded and 
in pain. This time the fault was more serious than 
before. The electricians looked very grave, for they 
had struck " dead earth," that is, the insulation was 
completely destroyed, and the electric current was 
escaping into the sea. 

As the fault had gone overboard, it was necessary to 
reverse their course, and haul in till the defective part 
was brought up from the bottom. This time it was 
more difficult, for they were in water two miles deep. 
Still the cable yielded slowly to the iron hands that 
drew it upward ; and after working all the afternoon, 
about ten o'clock at night they got the fault on board. 
The wounded limb was at once amputated, and join- 
ing the parts that were whole, the cable was made new 
and strong again. Thus ended a day of anxiety. The 
next morning, which was the second Sabbath at sea, 
was welcomed with a grateful feeling after the sus- 
pense of the last twenty-four hours. 

On Monday, the miles of cable that had been hauled 
up, and which were lying in huge piles upon the deck, 
were subjected to a rigid examination, to find out 



280 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

where the fault lay. This was soon apparent. Near 
the end was found a piece of wire thrust through its 
very heart, as if it had been driven into it. All looked 
black when this was discovered, for at once it excited 
suspicions of design. It was remarked that the same 
gang of workmen were in the tank as at the time 
of the first fault. Mr. Canning sent for the men, 
and showing them the cable pierced through with 
the wire, asked them how it occurred. Every man re- 
plied that it must have been done by design, even though 
they accused themselves, as this implied that there 
was a traitor among them. It seemed hard to believe 
that any one could be guilty of such devilish malig- 
nity. Yet such a thing had been done before in a 
cable laid in the North Sea, where the insulation was 
destroyed by a nail driven into it. The man was after- 
ward arrested, and confessed that he had been hired to 
do it by a rival company. The matter was the sub- 
ject of a long investigation in the English courts. In 
the present case there were many motives which might 
prompt to such an act. The fall in the stock on the 
London Exchange, caused by a loss of the cable, could 
hardly be less than half a million sterling. Here was 
a temptation such as betrays bold, bad men into crime. 
However, as it was impossible to fix the deed on any 
one, nothing was proved, and there only remained a 
painful suspicion of treachery. Against this it was 
their duty to guard. Therefore it was agreed that the 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1865. 281 

gentlemen on board should take turns in keeping 
watch in the tank. It was very unpleasant to Mr. 
Canning thus to set a watch on men, many of whom 
had been with him in his former cable-laying expedi- 
tions, but the best of them admitted the necessity of it, 
and were as eager as himself to find out the Judas 
among them. 

But accident or villainy, it was defeated this time, 
and the Great Eastern proudly continued her voyage. 
Not the slightest check interrupted their progress for 
the next three days, during which they passed over 
five hundred miles of ocean. It was now they enjoyed 
their greatest triumph. They were in the middle of 
the Atlantic, and thus far the voyage had been a com- 
plete success. The ship seemed as if made by Heaven 
to accomplish this great work of civilization. The 
paying-out apparatus was a piece of mechanism to 
excite the enthusiasm of an engineer, so smoothly did 
its well-oiled wheels run. The strain never exceeded 
fourteen hundred-weight, even in the greatest depths 
of the Atlantic. And as for the cable itself, it seemed 
to come as near perfection as it was possible to attain. 
As before, the insulation was greatly improved by 
submergence in the ocean. With everv lengthening 
league it grew better and better. It seems almost be- 
yond belief, yet the fact is fully attested that, when in 
the middle of the ocean, the communication was so 
perfect that they could tell at Valentia every time the 



282 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

Great Eastern rolled.* With such omens of success, 
who could but feel confident ? And when on Monday 
they passed over a deep valley, where lay " the bones 
of three Atlantic cables," it was with a proud assurance 
that they should not add another to the number. 

But Wednesday brought a sudden termination of 
their hopes. They had run out about twelve hundred 
miles of cable, and were now within six hundred miles 
of Newfoundland. Two days more would have made 
them safe, as it would have brought them into the 
shallow waters of the coast. Thus it was when least 
expected that disaster came. The record of that fatal 
day may be given in few words. In the morning, 
while Mr. Field was keeping w r atch in the tank, with 
the same gang of men w^ho had been there when the 
trouble occurred before, a grating sound w r as heard, as 
if a piece of wire had caught in the machinery, and 
word was passed up to the deck to look out for it ; but 
the caution seems not to have been heard, and it passed 
over the stern of the ship. Soon after a report came 
from the testing-room of " another fault." It was not 
a bad one, since it did not prevent communication with 
land ; and much anxiety might have been saved had a 

* So exquisitely sensitive was the copper strand, that as the Great 
Eastern rolled, and so made the cable pass across the magnetic meri- 
dian, the induced current of electricity, incomprehensibly faint as it 
must have been, produced nevertheless a perceptible deviation of the 
ray of light on the mirror galvanometer at Foilhommerum.— -London 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1865. 283 

message been sent to Ireland tbat they were about to 
cut the cable, in order to haul it on board. But small 
as the fault was, it could not be left behind. Down on 
the deep sea-floor was some minute defect, a pin's 
point in a length measured by thousands of miles. 
Yet that was enough. Of this marvellous product of 
human skill, it might in truth be said, that it was like 
the law of God in demanding absolute perfection. To 
offend in one point was to be guilty of all. 

This new fault, though it was annoying, did not 
create alarm, for they had been accustomed to such 
things, and regarded them only as the natural inci- 
dents of the voyage. Had the apparatus for pulling 
in been complete, it could not have delayed them more 
than a few hours. But this had been the weak point 
of the arrangements from the beginning — the hete noire 
of the expedition. The only motive power was a little 
donkey engine, (rightly named,) which puffed and 
wheezed as if it had the asthma. This was now put in 
requisition, but soon gave out for want of more steam. 
While waiting for this a breeze sprang up, which 
caused the Great Eastern to drift over the cable, by 
which it was badly chafed, so that when it was hauled 
in, as the injured part was coming over the bows and 
was almost within grasp, suddenly it broke and plunged 
into the sea ! 

It came without a moment's warning. So unex- 
pected was such a catastrophe, that the gentlemen had 



284 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

gone down to lunch, as it was a little past the hour of 
noon. But Mr. Canning and Mr. Field stood watching 
the cable as it was straining upward from the sea, and 
saw the snapping of that cord, which broke so many 
hopes. The impression may be better imagined than 
described. Says a writer on board : " Suddenly Mr. 
Canning appeared in the saloon, and in a manner 
which caused every one to start in his seat, said, ' It is 
all over ! It is gone ! ' then hastened onward to his 
cabin. Ere the thrill of surprise and pain occasioned 
by these words had passed away, Mr. Field came from 
the companion into the saloon, and said, with com- 
posure admirable under the circumstances, though his 
lip quivered and his cheek was blanched, ' The cable 
has parted and has gone overboard.' All were on 
deck in a moment, and there, indeed, a glance revealed 
the truth." 

At last it had come — the calamity which all had 
feared, yet that seemed so far away only a few hours 
before. Yet there it was — the ragged end on board, 
torn and bleeding, the other lying far down in its 
ocean grave. 

In America, of course, nothing could be known 
of the fate of the expedition till its arrival on our 
shores. But in England its progress was reported 
from day to day, and as the success up to this point had 
raised the hopes of all to the highest pitch, the sudden 
loss of communication with the ship was a heavy blow 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1865. 285 

to public expectation, and gave rise to all sorts of con- 
jectures. At first a favorite theory was, that commu- 
nication had been interrupted by a magnetic storm. 
These are among the most mysterious phenomena of 
nature — so subtle and fleeting as to be almost beyond 
the reach of science. No visible sign do they give of 
their presence. No clouds darken the heavens ; no 
thunder peals along the sky. Yet strange influences 
trouble the air. At this very hour, Professor Airy, the 
Astronomer Eoyal at the Observatory at Greenwich, 
reported a magnetic storm of unusual violence. Said 
a London paper : 

" Just when the signals from the Great Eastern ceased, a 
magnetic storm of singular violence had set in. Unperceived 
by us, not to be seen in the heavens, nor felt in the atmos- 
phere, the earth's electricity underwent a mysterious dis- 
turbance. The recording instruments scattered about the 
kingdom, everywhere testified to the fury of this voiceless 
tempest, and there is every reason to suppose that the con- 
fusion of signals at midday on Wednesday was due to the 
strange and unusual earth -currents of magnetism, sweeping 
wildly across the cable as it lay in apparently untroubled 
waters at the bottom of the Atlantic." 

Said the Times : 

" At Valentia, on Wednesday last, the signals, up to nine 
A.M. , were coming with wonderful distinctness and regularity, 
but about that time a violent magnetic storm set in. No insu- 
lation of a submarine cable is ever so perfect as to withstand 
the influence of these electrical phenomena, which corre- 



286 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

spond in some particulars to storms in the ordinary atmos- 
phere, their direction generally being from east to west. 
Their action is immediately communicated to all conductors 
of electricity, and a struggle set up between the natural cur- 
rent and that used artificially in sending messages. This 
magnetic storm affected every telegraphic station in the 
kingdom. At some the wires were utterly useless ; and be- 
tween Valentia and Killarney the natural current toward 
the west was so strong along the land lines that it required 
an addition of five times the ordinary battery power to 
overcome it. This magnetic storm, which ceased at two a.m. 
on Friday, was instantly perceptible in the Atlantic cable. ? ' 

But these explanations, so consoling to anxious 
friends on land, did not comfort those on board the 
Great Eastern. They knew, alas ! that the cable was 
at the bottom of the ocean, and the only question was, 
if anv thing could be done to recover it. 

Now began a work of which there had been no ex- 
ample in the annals of the sea. The intrepid Canning 
declared his purpose to grapple for the cable ! The 
proposal seemed wild, dictated by the frenzy of de- 
spair. Yet he had fished in deep waters before. He 
had laid his hand on the bottom of the Mediterranean, 
but that was a shallow lake compared with the depths 
into which the Atlantic cable had descended. The 
ocean is here two and a half miles deep. It was as if 
an Alpine hunter stood on the summit of Mont Blanc 
and cast a line into the vale of Chamouni. Yet who 
shall put bounds to human courage ? The expedition 



THE EXPEDITION OP 1865. 287 

was not to be abandoned without a trial of this forlorn 
hope. There were on board some five miles of wire 
rope, intended to hold the cable in case it became 
necessary to cut it and lash it to the buoys, to save 
it from being lost in a storm. This was brought on 
deck for another purpose. " And now came forth the 
grapnels, two five-armed anchors, with flukes sharply 
curved and tapered to a tooth-like end — the hooks 
with which the Giant Despair was going to fish from 
the Great Eastern for a take worth, with all its be- 
longings, more than a million." These huge grappling- 
irons were firmly shackled to the end of the rope, and 
brought to the bows and thrown overboard. One 
splash, and the whole has disappeared in the bosom 
of the ocean. Down it goes — deeper, deeper, deeper 
still ! For two full hours it continued sinking before 
it struck the earth, and like a pearl-diver, began search- 
ing for its lost treasure on the bottom of the sea. 
What did it find there ? The wrecks of ships that 
had gone down a hundred years ago, with dead men's 
bones whitening in the deep sea caves ? It sought for 
something more precious to the interest of civilization 
than gems and gold. 

The ship was now a dozen miles or so from the 
place of accident. The cable had broken a little after 
noon, when the sun was shining clear, so that Captains 
Anderson and Moriarty had just obtained a perfect 
observation, from which they could tell, within half a 



288 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

mile, the very spot where it had gone down. To reach 
it now, with any chance of bringing it up, it would be 
necessary to hook it a few miles from the end. It had 
been paid out in a line from east to west. To strike 
it broadside, the ship stood off in the afternoon a few 
miles to the south. Here the grapnel was thrown 
over about three o'clock, and struck bottom about 
five, when the ship began slowly drifting back on her 
course. All night long those iron fingers were raking 
the bottom of the deep but grasping nothing, till to- 
ward morning the long rope quivered like a fisher- 
man's line when something has seized the end, and 
the head of the Great Eastern began to sway from her 
course, as if it felt some unseen attraction. As they 
began to haul in, the rapidly increasing strain soon 
rendered it certain that they had got hold of something. 
But what could it be ? How did they know it was 
their lost cable? This question has often been asked. 
They did not see it. How did they know that it was 
not the skeleton of a whale, or a mast or spar, the 
fragment of a wrecked ship ? The question is easily 
answered. If it had been any loose object which was 
being drawn up from the sea, its weight would have 
diminished as it came nearer the surface. But on the 
contrary, the strain, as shown by the dynamometer, 
steadily increased. This could only be from some 
object lying prone on the bottom. To an engineer 
the proof was like a mathematical demonstration. 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1865. 289 

Another fact observed by Captain Anderson was 
equally decisive: 

"The grapnel had caught something at the exact hour 
when by calculation the ship was known to be crossing the 
line of the cable ; nor had the grapnel upon this or any other 
occasion even for an instant caught any impediment from 
the time of its being lowered to the bottom, until the hour 
indicated by calculation, when the cable ought to be hooked." 

Having thus caught the cable, they had good hopes 
of getting it again, their confidence increasing with 
every hundred fathoms brought on board. For hours 
the work went on. They had raised it seven hundred 
fathoms — or three quarters of a mile — from the bottom, 
when an iron swivel gave way, and the cable once 
more fell back into the sea, carrying with it nearly two 
miles of rope. 

The first attempt had failed, but the fact that they 
had unmistakably caught the prize gave them courage 
for a second. Preparations were at once begun, but 
fogs came on and delaj 7 ed the attempt till Monday, 
when it was repeated. The grapnel caught again. 
It was late in the afternoon when it got its hold, and 
the work of pulling in was kept up all night. But 
as the sea was calm and the moon shining brightly, 
all joined in it with spirit, feeling elated with the hope 
of triumph on the morrow. 

That was not to be ; but each attempt seemed to 
come nearer and nearer to victory. This time the 

19 



290 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

cable was drawn up a full mile from the bottom, and 
hung suspended a mile and a half below the ship. 
Had the rope been strong enough, it might have been 
brought on board. But again a swivel gave way, and 
the cable, whose sleep had been a second time dis- 
turbed, sought its ocean bed. 

These experiments were fast using up the wire rope, 
and every expedient had to be resorted to, to piece it 
out and to give it strength. Each shackle and swivel 
was replaced by new bolts, and the capstan was in- 
creased four feet, in diameter, by being belted with 
enormous plates of iron, to wind the rope around it, if 
the picking-up machinery should fail. This gave full 
work to all the mechanics on board. The ship was 
turned into a very cave of Vulcan, presenting at night 
a scene which might well take the eye of an artist, and 
which Russell thus describes : 

"The forge fires glared on her decks, and there, out in 
the midst of the Atlantic, anvils rang and sparks flew ; and 
the spectator thought of some village far away, where the 
blacksmith worked, unvexed by cable anxieties and greed 
of speedy news. As the blaze shot up, ruddy, mellow and 
strong, and flung arms of light aloft and along the glisten- 
ing decks, and then died into a red centre, masts, spars, and 
ropes were for the instant touched with a golden gleaming, 
and strange figures and faces were called out from the dark- 
ness — vanished, glinted out again — rushed suddenly into 
foreground of bright pictures, which faded soon away — 
flickered — went out — as they were called to life by its warm 



THE EXPEDITION" OF 1865. 291 

breath, or were buried in the outer darkness ! Outside all 
was obscurity, but now and then vast shadows, which 
moved across the arc of the lighted fog-bank, were projected 
far away by the flare ; and one might well pardon the pass- 
ing mariner, whose bark drifted him in the night across the 
track of the great ship, if, crossing himself, and praying 
with shuddering lips, he fancied he beheld a phantom ship 
freighted with an evil crew, and ever after told how he had 
seen the workshops of the Inferno floating on the bosom of 
the ocean." 

While preparing for a third attempt, the ship had 
been drifting about, sometimes to a distance of thirty 
or forty miles, but it had marked the course where the 
cable lay by two buoys thrown over about ten miles 
apart, each bearing a flag which might be seen at a 
distance, and so easily came back to the spot. On 
Thursday morning all was ready, and the line was cast 
as before, but after some hours of drifting, it was evi- 
dent that the ship had passed over the cable without 
grappling. The line was hauled in, and the reason at 
once appeared. One of the flukes had caught in the 
chain, so that it could not strike its teeth into the bot- 
tom. This was cleared away, and the rope prepared 
for a fourth and final attempt. 

It was at noon of Friday that the grapnel went over- 
board for the last time. By four o'clock it had caught, 
and the work of hauling in recommenced. Again the 
cable was brought up nearly eight hundred fathoms, 
when the rope broke, carrying down two miles of its 



292 STORY OP THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

own length, and with it the hopes of the Atlantic Tele- 
graph for the present year. 

Their resources were exhausted. For nine days and 
nights, for the work never stopped for light or dark- 
ness, had the great ship kept moving round and round 
like some mighty bird of the sea, with her eye fixed 
on the place where her treasure had gone down, and 
striving to wrest it from the hand of the spoiler. 
Three times had they grasped the prize, and each time 
failed to recover it, only for want of ropes strong 
enough to bring it on board. The cable itself never 
broke. This proof of its strength was a good omen 
for future success. 

But for the present all was over. The attempt must 
be abandoned for the year 1865, but not for ever ; and 
with this purpose in her constant mind, the Great 
Eastern swung sullenly around, and turned her impe- 
rial head toward England, like a warrior retiring from 
the field — not victorious, nor yet defeated and despair- 
ing, but with her battle-flag still flying, and resolved 
once more to attempt the conquest of the sea. 



CHAPTER XY. 

PREPARING- TO RENEW THE BATTLE. 

The expedition of 1865, though not an immediate 
success, had the moral effect of a victory, as it con- 
firmed the most sanguine expectations of all who em- 
barked in it. The great experiment made during those 
four weeks at sea, had demonstrated many points 
which were most important elements in the problem of 
Ocean Telegraphy. These are summed up in the fol- 
lowing paper, which was signed by persons officially 
engaged on board the Great Eastern : 

1. It was proved by the expedition of 1858, that a Sub- 
marine Telegraph Cable could be laid between Ireland and 
Newfoundland, and messages transmitted through the same. 

By the expedition of 1865 it has been fully demonstrated : 

2. That the insulation of a cable improves very much 
after its submersion in the cold deep water of the Atlantic, 
and that its conducting power is considerably increased 
thereby. 

3. That the steamship Great Eastern, from her size and 
constant steadiness, and from the control over her afforded 
by the joint use of paddles and screw, renders it safe to lay 
an Atlantic Cable in any weather. 



294 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

4. That in a depth of over two miles four attempts were 
made to grapple the cable. In three of them the cable w r as 
caught by the grapnel, and in the other the grapnel was 
fouled by the chain attached to it. 

5. That the paying-out machinery used on board the Great 
Eastern worked perfectly, and can be confidently relied on 
for laying cables across the Atlantic. 

6. That with the improved telegraphic instruments for 
long submarine lines, a speed of more than eight words per 
minute can be obtained through such a cable as the present 
Atlantic between Ireland and Newfoundland, as the amount 
of slack actually paid out did not exceed fourteen per cent, 
which would have made the total cable laid between Valen- 
tia and Heart's Content nineteen hundred miles. 

7. That the present Atlantic Cable, though capable of 
bearing a strain of seven tons, did not experience more than 
fourteen hundred- weight in being paid out into the deepest 
w r ater of the Atlantic between Ireland and Newfoundland. 

8. That there is no difficulty in mooring buoys in the deep 
water of the Atlantic between Ireland and Newfoundland, 
and that two buoys even when moored by a piece of the 
Atlantic Cable itself, which had been previously lifted from 
the bottom, have ridden out a gale. 

9. That more than four nautical miles of the Atlantic 
Cable have been recovered from a depth of over two miles, 
and that the insulation of the gutta-percha-covered wire was 
in no way whatever impaired by the depth of water or the 
strains to which it had been subjected by lifting and passing 
through the hauling-in apparatus. 



PREPARING TO RENEW THE BATTLE. 295 

10. That the cable of 1865, owing" to the improvements 
introduced into the manufacture of the gutta-percha core, 
was more than one hundred times better insulated than 
cables made in 1858, then considered perfect and still work- 
ing. 

11. That the electrical testing can be conducted with sucli 
unerring accuracy as to enable the electricians to discover 
the existence of a fault immediately after its production or 
development, and very quickly to ascertain its position in 
the cable. 

12. That with a steam-engine attached to the paying-out 
machinery, should a fault be discovered on board whilst 
laying the cable, it is possible that it might be recovered 
before it had reached the bottom of the Atlantic, and repaired 

at once. 

S. Canning, Engineer-in-Chief, Telegraph Construction 
and Maintenance Company. 

James Anderson. Commander of the Great Eastern. 

Henry A. Moriarty, Staff Commander, R. N. 

Daniel Gooch, M.P., Chairman of " Great Ship Co." 

Henry Clifford, Engineer. 

William Thomson, LL.D., F.R.S., Prof, of Natural Phi- 
losophy in the University of Glasgow. 

Cromwell F. Varley, Consulting Electrician Electric 
and International Telegraph Co. 

WlLLOUGHBY SMITH. 

Jules Despecher. 

This was a grand result to be attained in one short 
month ; and if not quite so gratifying as to have the 
cable laid at once, and the wire in full operation, yet 
as it settled the chief elements of success, the moral 



296 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

effect was next to that of an immediate triumph. All 
who were on that voyage felt a confidence such as 
they had never felt before. They came back, not 
desponding and discouraged, but buoyant with hope, 
and ready at once to renew the attempt. 

This confidence appeared at the first meeting of 
directors. The feeling was very different from that 
after the return of the first expedition of 1858. So 
animated were they with hope, and so sure of success 
the next time, that all felt that one cable was not 
enough, they must have two, and so it was decided 
to take measures not only to raise the broken end of 
the cable and to complete it to Newfoundland, but also 
to construct and lay an entirely new one, so as to have 
a double line in operation the following summer. 

The contractors, partaking the general confidence, 
came forward promptly with a new offer even more 
liberal than that made before. They proposed to con- 
struct a new line, and to lay it across the Atlantic for 
half a million sterling, which was estimated to be the 
actual cost to them, reserving all compensation to 
themselves to depend on success. If successful, they 
were to receive twenty per cent, on the cost, or one 
hundred thousand pounds, to be paid in shares of the 
Company. They would engage, also, to go to sea 
fully prepared to raise the broken end of the cable 
now in mid-ocean, and with a sufficient length, include 
ing that on board the Great Eastern, to complete the 



PREPARING TO RENEW THE BATTLE. 297 

line to Newfoundland. Thus the company would 
have two cables instead of one. 

In this offer the contractors assumed a very large 
risk. They now went a step further, and in the con- 
tingency of the capital not being raised otherwise, they 
offered to take it all themselves — to lay the line at their 
own risk, and to be paid only in the stock of the Com- 
pany, which, of course, must depend for its value on 
the success of the next expedition. It was finally 
resolved to raise six hundred thousand pounds of new 
capital by the issue of a hundred and twenty thousand 
shares of five pounds each, which should be preferential 
shares, entitled to a dividend of twelve per cent, before 
the eight per cent, dividend to be paid on the former 
preference shares, and the four per cent, on the ordinary 
stock. This was offering a substantial inducement to 
the public to take part in the enterprise, and it was 
thought with reason that this fresh issue of stock, 
though it increased the capital of the Company, yet as 
it was all to be employed in forwarding the great 
work, would not only create new property, but give 
value to the old. The proposal of the manufacturers 
was therefore at once accepted by the Directors, and 
the work was instantly begun. Thus hopeful was the 
state of affairs when Mr. Field returned to America in 
September. 

But he was never easy to be long out of sight of his 
beloved cable, and so three months after he went back 



298 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

to England, reaching London on the twenty-fourth of 
December. He came at just the right moment, for the 
Atlantic Telegraph was once more in extremity. Only 
two days before the Attorney-General of England had 
given a written opinion that the Company had no 
legal right to issue new twelve per cent, preference 
shares, and that such issue could only be authorized by 
an express act of Parliament. This was a fatal decree 
to the Company. It was the more unexpected, as, 
before offering the twelve per cent, capital, they had 
been fortified by the opinions of several eminent law- 
yers and solicitors in favor of the legality of their 
proceedings. It invalidated not only what they were 
going to do, but what they had done already. Hence, 
as the effect of this decision, all the works were 
stopped, and the money which had been paid in was 
returned to the subscribers. 

This was a new dilemma, out of which* it was not 
easy to find a way of relief. Parliament was not in 
session, Lords and Commons being away in the country 
keeping the Christmas holidays. Even if it had been, 
the time for applying to it had passed, as a notice of 
any private bill to be introduced must be given before 
the thirtieth of November, which was gone a month 
ago. To wait for an act of Parliament, therefore, 
would inevitably postpone the laying of the cable for 
another year. So disheartening was the prospect at 
the close of 1865. 



PREPARING TO RENEW THE BATTLE. 299 

But they had seen dark days before, and were not 
to give it up without a new effort. Happily, the cause 
had strong friends to stand by it even in this crisis of 
suspended animation. 

One of these to whom Mr. Field now went for coun- 
sel, was Mr. (afterward Sir) Daniel Gooch, M.P., a 
gentleman well known in London, as one of the class 
of engineers formed in the school of Stephenson and 
Brunei, who had risen to the position of great capital- 
ists, and who, by their enterprise and wealth, had clone 
so much to develope the resources of England. He 
was Chairman of the Great Western Railway, and had 
more faith in enterprises on the land than on the sea. 
It was a long time before he could believe in the possi- 
bility of an Atlantic Telegraph. Though a man of 
large fortune, and a personal friend of Mr. Field, the 
latter had never prevailed on him to subscribe a single 
pound. But he went out on the expedition of '65, as 
chairman of the company that owned the Great East- 
ern ; and what he then saw convinced him. He came 
back fully satisfied ; he knew it could be done, and 
was ready to prove his faith by his works. Consulting 
on the present difficulty, he suggested that the only 
relief was to organize a new Company, which should 
assume the work, and which could issue its own shares 
and raise its own capital. This opinion was con- 
firmed by the eminent legal authority of Mr. John 
Horatio Lloyd. To such a Company Mr. Gooch said 



300 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

he would subscribe £20,000; Mr. Field put down 
£10,000. 

Next, he betook himself to that prince of English 
capitalists, Mr. Thomas Brassey, who heard from his 
lips for the first time, that the affairs of the Atlantic 
Telegraph Company had suddenly come to a stand- 
still. At this he was much surprised, but instantly 
cheered his informer by saying : " Don't be discour- 
aged ; go down to the Company, and tell them to go 
ahead, and whatever the cost, I will bear one tenth 
of the whole." Who could be discouraged with such 
a Richard the Lion-hearted to cheer him on ? 

Meetings were called of the Directors of both the 
Atlantic Company and the Telegraph Construction 
and Maintenance Company ; and frequent conferences 
were held between them. The result was the forma- 
tion of a new company called the Anglo-American 
Telegraph Company, with a capital of £600,000, which 
contracted with the Atlantic Company to manufacture 
and lay down a cable in the summer of 1866, for doing 
which it was to be entitled to what virtually amounted 
to a preference dividend of twenty-five per cent : as a 
first claim was secured to them by the latter company 
upon the revenue of the cable or cables (after the 
working expenses had been provided for) to the extent 
of £125,000 per annum; and the New- York, New- 
foundland, and London Telegraph Company under- 
took to contribute from its revenue a further annual 



VICTORY AT LAST. 301 

sum of £25,000, on condition that a cable should be at 
work during 1866 ; an agreement to this effect having 
been signed by Mr. Field, subject to ratification by the 
Company in New York, which was obtained as soon 
as the steamer could cross the ocean and bring back 
the reply. 

The terms being settled, it remained only to raise 
the capital. The Telegraph Construction and Main- 
tenance Company led off with a subscription of 
£100,000. This was followed by the names of ten 
gentlemen, who put down £10,000 apiece. Of these 
Mr. Gooch declared his willingness to increase his sub- 
scription of £10,000 to £20,000, while Mr. Brassey 
would put down £60,000, if it were needed. Mr. 
Henry Bewley, of Dublin also, who was already a 
large owner of the Atlantic stock, declared his readi- 
ness to add £20,000 more. But this was not necessary : 
and so they all stood at £10,000. The names of these 
ten subscribers deserve to be given, as showing who 
stood forward to save the cause in this crisis of its fate. 
They were : Henry Ford Barclay, Henry Bewley, 
Thomas Brassey, A. H. Campbell, M.P., George Elliot, 
Cyrus W. Field, Richard Atwood Glass, Daniel Gooch, 
M.P., John Pender, M.P., and John Smith. There were 
four subscriptions of £5,000 : by Thomas Bolton and 
Sons, James Horsfall, A Friend of Mr. Daniel Gooch, 
M.P., and John and Edwin Wright ; one of £2,500 by 
John Wilkes and Sons; three of £2,000 by C. M. 



302 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

Lampson, J. Morison, and Ebenezer Pike ; and two of 
£1,000 by Edward Cropper, and Joseph Robinson, — 
making in all £230,500. 

These were all private subscriptions made before 
even the prospectus was issued, or the books opened to 
the public. After such a manifestation of confidence, 
the whole capital was secured w x ithin fourteen days. 
This was a great triumph, especially at a time of gen- 
eral depression in commercial affairs in England. 

And now once more the work began. No time was 
to be lost. It was already the first of March, and but 
four months remained to manufacture sixteen hundred 
and sixty nautical miles of cable, and to prepare for 
sea. But the obstacles once cleared away, all sprang 
to their work with new hope and vigor. 

In the cable to be made for the new line, there was 
but little change from that of the last year, which 
had proved nearly perfect. Experience, however, was 
constantly suggesting some improvement ; and while 
the general form and size were retained, a slight 
change in the outer covering was found to make the 
cable both lighter and stronger. The iron wires were 
galvanized, which secured them perfectly from rust or 
corrosion by salt w^ater. Thus protected, they could 
dispense with the preservative mixture of the former 
year. This left the cable much cleaner and -whiter. 
Instead of its black coat, it had the fresh, bright 
appearance of new rope. It had another advantage. 



PREPARING TO RENEW THE BATTLE. 303 

As the tarry coating was sticky, slight fragments of 
wire might adhere to it, and do injury, a danger to 
which the new cable was not exposed. At the same 
time, galvanizing the wires gave them greater ductility, 
so that in the case of a heavy strain the cable would 
stretch longer without breaking. By this alteration it 
was rendered more than four hundred-weight lighter 
per mile, and would bear a strain of nearly half a ton 
more than the one laid the year before. 

The machinery also was perfected in every part, 
to withstand the great strain which might be brought 
upon it in grappling and lifting the cable from the 
great depths of the Atlantic. This necessitated al- 
most a reconstruction of the machinery, together with 
engines of greater power, applied both to the gear for 
hauling in forward and that for paying out aft. Thus, 
in case of a fault, the motion of the ship could be 
easily reversed, and the cable hauled back by the pay- 
ing-out machinery, without waiting for the long and 
tedious process of bringing the cable round from the 
stern to the bow of the ship. 

But the most marvellous improvement had been in 
the method of testing the cable for the discovery of 
faults. In the last expedition, a grave omission had 
been in the long intervals during which the cable was 
left without a test of its insulation. Thus, from thirty 
to thirty-five minutes in each hour it was occupied 
with tests of minor importance, which would not indi- 



304 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

cate the existence of a fault, so that, if a fault oc- 
curred on ship-board, it might pass over the stern, and 
be miles away before it was discovered. But now a 
new and ingenious method was devised by Mr. Wil- 
loughby Smith, by which the cable will be tested every 
instant The current will not cease to flow any more 
than the blood ceases to flow in human veins. The 
cord is vital in every part, and if touched at any point 
it reveals the wound as instinctively as the nerves of a 
living man flash to the brain a wound in any part of 
the human frame. 

The process of detecting faults is too scientific to be 
detailed in these pages. We can only stand in silent 
wonder at the result, when we hear it stated by Mr. 
Yarley, that the system of testing is brought to such 
a degree of perfection, that skilful electricians can 
point out minute faults with an unerring accuracy 
" even when they are so small that they would not 
weaken the signals through the Atlantic cable one 
millionth part ! " 

Another marvellous result of science was the exact 
report obtained of the state of that portion of the cable 
now lying in the sea. The electricians at Valentia 
were daily experimenting on the line which lay 
stretched twelve hundred and thirteen miles on the 
bottom of the deep, and pronounced it intact. Not a 
fault could be found from one end to the other. As 
when a master of the or^an runs his hands over the 



PREPARING TO RENEW THE BATTLE. 305 

keys, and tells in an instant if it be in perfect tune, so 
did these skilful manipulators, fingering at the end of 
this mightier instrument, declare it to be in perfect 
tone, ready to whisper its harmonies through the seas. 
At the same time, the ten hundred and seventy miles 
of cable left on board the Great Eastern were pro- 
nounced as faultless as the day they had been shipped 
on board. 

"With such conclusions of science to animate and 
inspire them, the great task of manufacturing nearly 
seventeen hundred miles of cable once more began. 
And while this work went on, the Great Eastern, that 
had done her part so well before, again opened her 
sides, and the mysterious cord was drawn into her 
vast, dark, silent womb, from which it was to issue 
only into the darker and more silent bosom of the 
deep. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



VICTORY AT LAST. 



In these pages we have led our readers through 
twelve long years, and have had to tell many a tale of 
disaster and defeat. It is now our privilege to tell of 
triumphant success. Victory has come at last, but not 
by the chance of fortune, but by the utmost efforts of 
man, by the union of science and skill with indomit- 
able perseverance. The failure of the last year was a 
sad disappointment ; but so far from damping the cour- 
age of those embarked in the enterprise, it only roused 
them to a more gigantic effort. They were now to 
prepare for a fifth expedition. In this they set them- 
selves to anticipate every possible emergency, and to 
combine the elements of success so as to render failure 
impossible. 

The Great Eastern herself, which they had come to 
regard with a kind of fondness, a feeling of affection 
and pride, as the ark that was to bear their fortunes 
across the deep, was made ready for her crowning 
achievement. For months Captain Anderson and Mr. 
Halpin, his chief officer, worked day and night to get 
her into perfect trim. She had become sadly fouled 






VICTORY AT LAST. 307 

in her many voyages. As she swam the seas, a thou- 
sand things clung to her as to a floating island, till her 
hull was encrusted with mussels and barnacles two 
feet thick, and long seaweed flaunted from her sides. 
Like a brave old war-horse, long neglected, she needed 
a thorough grooming, to have her hair combed and 
her limbs well rubbed down, to fit her to take the 
field. But it was not an easy matter to get under the 
huge creature, to give her such a dressing. Yet Cap- 
tain Anderson was equal to the emergency. He con- 
trived a simple instrument by which every part of her 
bottom was raked and scrubbed. Getting rid of this 
rough, shapeless mass would make her feel easy and 
comfortable at sea, and add at least a knot an hour to 
her speed. 

The boilers too were thoroughly cleansed and re- 
paired in every part, and the paddle-engines were so 
arranged that in five minutes they could be discon- 
nected, so that by going ahead with one and backing 
with the other, the ship could be held perfectly at rest 
or be turned around in her own length, a very import- 
ant matter when they should come to fish in deep 
waters for the broken end of the cable. To prepare 
for this, she was armed with chains and ropes and irons 
of the most formidable kind. For grappling the cable, 
she took on board twenty miles of rope, which would 
bear a strain of thirty tons, probably the largest fish- 
ing-line used since the days of Noah ! 



308 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

The cable was manufactured at the rate of twenty 
miles a day, and as fast as delivered and found perfect, 
was coiled on board. And now the electricians tried 
their skill to outdo all that they had done before. As 
Captain Anderson observed, it seemed as if never 
had so much brain power been concentrated on the 
problem of success. The cable itself furnished the 
grandest subject of experiment. As every week added 
more than a hundred miles to its length, there was 
constant opportunity to try the electric current on 
longer distances and with new conditions. The results 
obtained showed the rapid and marvellous progress of 
electrical science. Said The Times : 

' ' The science of making, testing, and laying cables has so 
much improved that an undetected fault in an insulated wire 
has now become literally impossible, while so much are the 
instruments for signalling improved, that not only can a 
slight fault be disregarded if necessary, but it is even easy to 
work through a submarine wire with a foot of its copper 
conductor stripped and bare to the ivater. This latter 
result, astonishing as it may appear, has actually been 
achieved for some days past with the whole Atlantic cable 
on board the Great Eastern. Out of a length of more than 
one thousand seven hundred miles, a coil has been taken 
from the centre, the copper conductor stripped clean of its 
insulation for a foot in length, and in this condition lowered 
over the vessel's side till it rested on the ground. Yet 
through this the clearest signals have been sent — so clear, 
indeed, as at one time to raise the question whether it would 



VICTORY AT LAST. 309 

not be worth while to grapple for the first old Atlantic cable 
ever laid, and with these new instruments working gently 
through it for a year or so, at least make it pay cost." 

As other things were on the same gigantic scale, by 
the time the big ship had her cargo and stores on 
board, she was well laden. Of the cable alone there 
were two thousand four hundred miles, coiled in three 
immense tanks as the year before. Of this seven 
hundred and forty-eight miles were a part of the cable 
of the last expedition. The tanks alone, with the 
water in them, weighed over a thousand tons ; and the 
cable which they held, four thousand tons more ; be- 
sides which she had to carry eight thousand five hun- 
dred tons of coal and five hundred tons of telegraph 
stores, making fourteen thousand tons, besides engines, 
rigging, etc., which made nearly as much more. So 
enormous was the burden, that it was thought prudent 
not to take on board all her coal before she left the 
Med way, especially as the channel was winding and 
shallow. It was therefore arranged that about a third 
of her coal should be taken in at Berehaven, on the 
south-west coast of Ireland. With this exception, her 
lading was complete. 

The time for departure had been fixed for the last 
day of June, and so admirable had been the arrange- 
ments, and such the diligence of all concerned, that 
exactly at the hour of noon, she loosened from her 
moorings, and began to move. It was well that she 



310 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

had not on board her whole cargo ; for as it was, she 
drew nearly thirty-two feet. Never had any keel 
pressed so deep in those waters. It required skilful 
handling to get her safely to the sea. Gently and 
softly she floated down, over bars where she almost 
grazed the sand, where but a few inches lifted her 
enormous hull above the river's bed. But at length 
the rising tide bears her safely over, and she is afloat 
in the deeper waters of the Channel. At first the sea 
did not give her a very gracious welcome. The wind 
was dead ahead, and the waves dashed furiously 
against her ; but she kept steadily on, tossing their 
spray on high, as if they had struck against the rocks 
of Eddystone lighthouse. In four or five days she had 
passed down the Irish coast, and was quietly anchored 
in the harbor at Berehaven, where she was soon joined 
by the other vessels of the squadron. 

The Telegraph fleet was not the same as that of the 
last year. The Government could spare but a single 
ship ; but the Terrible, which had accompanied the 
Great Eastern on the former expedition, was still there 
to represent the majesty of England. The William 
Corry, a vessel of two thousand tons, bore the ponder- 
ous shore end, which was to be laid out thirty miles 
from the Irish coast, while the Albany and the Mecl- 
way were ships chartered by the Compan3 r . The lat- 
ter carried several hundred miles of the last year's 
cable, besides one of heavier proportions, ninety miles 



VICTORY AT LAST. 311 

long, to be stretched across the mouth of the Gulf of 
St. Lawrence. 

While the Great Eastern remained at Berehaven, to 
take in her final stores of coal, the William Corry 
proceeded around the coast to Valentia to lay the shore 
end. She arrived off the harbor on the morning of 




SHORE END EXACT SIZE. 

Saturday, the seventh of July, and immediately began 
to prepare for her heavy task. This shore end was of 
tremendous size, weighing twenty tons to the mile. It 
was by far the strongest wire cable ever made, and in 
short lengths was stiff as an iron bar. As the year 
before, the cable was to be brought off on a bridge of 
boats reaching from the ship to the foot of the cliff. 



312 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

All the fishermen's boats were gathered from along the 
shore, while H. M. S. Raccoon, which was guarding 
that part of the coast, sent up her boats to help, so 
that, as they all mustered in line, there were forty of 
them, making a long pontoon-bridge ; and Irish boat- 
men with eager looks and strong hands were standing 
along the line, to grasp the ponderous chain. All went 
well, and by one o'clock the cable was landed, and its 
end brought up the cliff to the station. The signals 
were found to be perfect, and the William Corry then 
slowly drew off to sea, unlimbering her stiff shore end, 
till she had cast over the whole thirty miles. At three 
o'clock next morning she telegraphed through the cable 
that her work was done, and she had buoyed the end 
in water a hundred fathoms deep. Describing the 
scene, the correspondent of the London News says : 

' ' In its leading" features it presented a striking difference 
to the ceremony of last year. Earnest gravity and a deep- 
seated determination to repress all show of the enthusiasm 
of which everybody was full, was very manifest. The ex- 
citement was below, instead of above, the surface. Speech- 
making, hurrahing, public congratulations, and vaunts of 
confidence were, as it seemed, avoided as if on purpose. 
There was something far more touching in the quiet and 
reverent solemnity of the spectators yesterday than in the 
slightly boisterous joviality of the peasantry last year. 
Nothing could prevent the scene being intensely dramatic, 
but the prevailing tone of the drama was serious instead of 
comic and triumphant. The old crones in tattered garments 



VICTORY AT LAST. 313 

who cowered together, dudheen in mouth, their gaudy col- 
ored shawls tightly drawn over head and under the chin — 
the barefooted boys and girls, who by long practice walked 
over sharp and jagged rocks, which cut up boots and shoes, 
with perfect impunity — the men at work uncovering the 
trench, and winding in single file up and down the hazard- 
ous path cut by the cablemen in the otherwise inaccessible 
rock — the patches of bright color furnished by the red petti- 
coats and cloaks — the ragged garments, only kept from fall- 
ing to pieces by bits of string and tape — the good old parish 
priest, who exercises mild and gentle spiritual sway over the 
loving subjects of whom the ever-popular Knight of Kerry 
is the temporal head, looking on benignly from his car — the 
bright eyes, supple figures, and innocent faces of the peasant 
lasses, and the earnestly hopeful expression of all — made up 
a picture impossible to describe with justice. Add to this, 
the startling abruptness with which the tremendous cliffs 
stand flush out of the water, the alternations of bright 
wild flowers and patches of verdure with the most desolate 
barrenness, the mountain sheep indifferently cropping the 
short, sweet grass, and the undercurrent of consciousness of 
the mighty interests at stake, and few scenes will seem more 
important and interesting than that of yesterday." 

As the ships are now ready for sea, and all who are 
to embark have come on board, we may. look about us 
at the personnel of the expedition. "Who are here? 
We recognize many old familiar faces, that we have 
seen in former campaigns — gallant men who have had 
many a sea-fight in this peaceful war. First, the eye 
seeks the tall form of Captain Anderson. There he 



314 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

is, modest and grave, of few words, but seeing every 
thing, watching every thing, and ruling every thing 
with a quiet power. And there is his second officer, 
Mr. Halpin, who keeps a sharp lookout after the 
crew, to see that every man does his duty. While 
he thus keeps watch of all on board, Staff Com- 
mander Moriarty, R. N., comes on deck, with in- 
struments in hand, to look after the heavenly bodies, 
and reckon the ship's latitude and longitude. This 
is an old veteran in the service, who has been in 
all the expeditions, and it would be quite " improper," 
even if it were possible, for a cable to be laid across 
the Atlantic without his presence and aid. And 
here comes Mr. Canning, the engineer, whose deep- 
sea soundings, the last year, were on a scale* of such 
magnitude, and who, if he cannot well dive deeper, 
means to pull stronger the next time. That slight 
form yonder is Professor Thomson, of Glasgow, a man 
who in his knowledge of the subtle element to be 
brought into play, and the enthusiasm he brings to its 
study, is the very genius of electrical science ; and this 
is Mr. Varley, who seems to have the lightning in his 
fingers, and to whom the world owes some marvellous 
discoveries of the laws of electricity. Mr. Willoughby 
Smith, a worthy associate in these studies and discov- 
eries, goes out on the ship as electrician. 

And here is Mr. Glass, the managing director of the 
Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company, 



VICTORY AT LAST. 315 

which has undertaken by contract to manufacture this 
cable and lay it safely across the ocean ; and Mr. 
Gooch, chairman of the company that owns the Great 
Eastern — two gentlemen to whom the Atlantic Tele- 
graph is under the greatest obligation, since it was 
they who, six months before, when the project seemed 
in danger of being given up or postponed for years, 
took Mr. Field by the hand, and cheered him on to 
a last effort. Blessings on their hearts of oak ! Mr. 
Gooch accompanies the ship, while Mr. Glass, keep- 
ing Mr. Yarley at his side as electrician, remains on 
shore, to receive reports of the daily progress of the 
expedition, and to issue his orders. What a post of 
observation was that telegraph house on the cliffs of 
Valentia ! It commanded a far broader horizon than 
the top of Fiesole, from which Galileo looked down on 
the valley of the Arno, and up at the stars. Was 
there ever a naval commander favored with a power 
of vision that could sweep the boundless sea? What 
would Nelson have said, if he had had a spy-glass 
with which he could watch ships in action two thou- 
sand miles away, and issue his orders to a fleet on the 
other side of the ocean ? With such a Ion g ran^e, 
he might almost have fought the Battle of the Nile 
from his home in England. 

Standing on such a spot, and surrounded by such 
men, representing the capital, the science, and the 



316 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

skill of England, with all those gallant ships in sight, 
one's heart might well beat high. But there were 
other reflections that saddened the hour, and caused 
some at least to look once more on the rocks of Ya- 
lentia with deep emotion. Some of their old compan- 
ions-in-arms had fallen out of the ranks, while the bat- 
tle was not yet won. Brett, Mr. Field's first friend in 
England, was in his grave. Beyond the Atlantic, Cap- 
tains Hudson and Berryman slept the sleep that knows 
no waking. They were not forgotten by their surviv- 
ors, who mourned that those who had toiled with them 
in former days, were not here to share their triumph. 

The feeling, therefore, of many on this occasion, 
was not one elate with pride and hope, but subdued 
by serious thoughts and tender memories. In har- 
mony with this feeling, and with the great work which 
they were about to undertake, it was proposed that 
before the expedition sailed they should hold a solemn 
religious service. 

Was there ever a fitter place or a fitter hour for 
prayer than here, in the presence of the great sea to 
which they were about to commit their lives and their 
precious trust ? The first expedition ever sent forth 
had been consecrated by prayer. On that very spot, 
nine years before, all heads were uncovered and all 
forms bent low, at the solemn words of supplication ; 
and there had the Earl of Carlisle — since gone to his 
honored grave — -cheered them on with high religious 



VICTORY AT LAST. 317 

hopes, describing the ships which were sent forth on 
such a mission, as " beautiful upon the waters as were 
the feet upon the mountains of them that publish the 
gospel of peace." 

In such a spirit two of the directors — Mr. Bevan, 
of London, and Mr. Bewley, of Dublin — sent invita- 
tions to a number of persons to meet at Valentia, as 
the expedition was about to sail, and commend it to 
the favor of Almighty God. Captain Anderson had 
greatly desired to be with them at this parting ser- 
vice, but the ships were at Berehaven, and they were 
just embarking for sea. But though the officers could 
not be present, a large company came together. Said 
an Irish paper : " Men of different religious denomina- 
tion, and of various professions in life— Irishmen, 
Englishmen, and Scotchmen — joined in such a service 
as has ilever been held in this island." It was a scene 
long to be remembered, as they bowed together before 
the God and Father of all. Their brethren, who were 
about to go down to the sea in ships, felt their depend- , 
ence on a Higher Power. Their preparations were 
complete. All that man could do was done. They 
had exhausted every- resource of science and skill. 
The issue now remained with Him who controls the 
winds and waves. Therefore was it most fit that, at 
the very moment of embarking, those who remained 
behind should, as it were, kneel upon the cliff, and, 
with outstretched hands, commit them to Him who 



318 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

alone spreadeth out the heavens and ruleth the raging 
of the sea. 

In all this there is something of antique stamp, 
something which makes us think of the sublime men 
of an earlier and better time ; of the Pilgrim Fathers 
kneeling on the deck of their little ship at Ley den, as 
they were about to seek a refuge and a home in the 
forests of the New "World ; and of Columbus and his 
companions celebrating a solemn service before their 
departure from Spain. And so with labor and with 
prayer did this great expedition go forth once more 
from the shores of Ireland, bearing the hopes of science 
and of civilization — with courage and skill looking out 
from the bow across the stormy waters, and a religious 
faith, like that of Columbus, standing at the helm. 

On Friday morning, the thirteenth of July, the fleet 
finally bade adieu to the land. Was Friday an unlucky 
day ? Some of the sailors thought so, and would have 
been glad to leave a day before or after. But Columbus 
sailed on Friday, and discovered the New World on 
Friday ; and so this expedition put to sea on Friday, 
and, as a good Providence would have it, reached land 
on the other side of the Atlantic on the same clay of 
the week ! As the ships disappeared below the horizon, 
Mr. Glass and Mr. Varley went up on their watch- 
tower — not to look, but to listen for the first voice from 
the sea. The ships bore away for the buoy where lay 
the end of the shore line ; but the weather was thick 



VICTORY AT LAST. 319 

and foggy, with frequent bursts of rain, and they could 
not see far on the water. For an hour or two they 
went sailing round and round, like sea-gulls in search 
of prey. At length the Albany caught sight of the 
buoy tossing on the waves, and, firing a signal gun, 
bore down straight upon it. The cable was soon hauled 
up from its bed, a hundred fathoms deep, and brought 
over the stern of the Great Eastern ; and the watchers 
on shore, who had been waiting with some impatience, 
saw the first flash, and Varley read, " Got the shore 
end — all right — going to make the splice." Then all 
was still, and they knew that that delicate operation 
was going on. Quick, nimble hands tore off the cover- 
ing from some yards of the shore end of the main 
cable, till they came to the core ; then, swiftly unwind- 
ing the copper wires, they laid them together, twining 
them as closely and carefully as a silken braid. Thus 
stripped and bare this new-born child of the sea was 
wrapped in swaddling-clothes, covered up with many 
coatings of gutta-percha, and hempen rope, and strong 
iron wires, the whole bound round and round with 
heavy bands, and the splicing was complete. Signals 
were now sent through the whole cable on board the 
Great Eastern and back to the telegraph-house at 
Valentia, and the whole length, two thousand four 
hundred and forty nautical miles, was reported perfect. 
And so with light hearts they bore away. It was a little 
after three o'clock. As they turned to the west, the 



320 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

following was the "order of battle" : the Terrible went 
ahead, standing off on the starboard bow, to keep other 
vessels out of the course ; the Med way was on the port, 
and the Albany on the starboard quarter, ready to 
pick up or let go a buoy, or to do other work that 
might be required. All these ships were to keep their 
allotted positions, within signalling distance of the 
Great Eastern, and at an}^ time that she was heard 
firing guns, they were to close in with her to render 
assistance. Their course lay thirty miles to the south 
of that of the last year, so that there could be no 
danger, in fishing for the old cable, of disturbing the 
new. 

Dr. Russell, the brilliant historian of the Expedition 
of 1865, was not on board the Great Eastern this 
year. He had left England a few weeks before for 
the scene of the war in Germany. His place was 
supplied by Mr. John C. Deane, the Secretary of the 
Anglo-American Company, whose " Diary of the Ex- 
pedition " furnishes a faithful record of the incidents 
of this memorable voyage. If the story be not quite 
so thrilling as that of the year before, it is because it 
has not to tell of such fatal accidents. It has the 
monotony of success. A few pages from this diary, 
giving its most important portions, will render this 
narrative complete. 

The voyage began with good weather and every 
omen of success. Friday, indeed, was a day of fog 



VICTORY AT LAST. 321 

and rain. At the very time they were making the 
splice with the shore end, the rain was pouring on the 
deck. But in a few hours it cleared off, and Satur- 
day and Sunday, Mr. Field writes in his journal, 
" Weather fine ; " and Monday, " Calm, beautiful day. 
Signals perfect." Owing to the improved system 
adopted by the chief electrician, communication with 
the shore was kept up even while the tests for insula- 
tion w^ere going on.* 

* The new method is thus explained by Mr. Deane : 
/ " The fundamental difference between last year's system of testing 
and that of the present expedition is, that now all the ordinary tests for 
continuity may be made simultaneously with the test for insulation, 
which is not interrupted at all ; whereas, last year, during half the time 
spent in laying the cable, the insulation test was wholly neglected. 

" Last year, each hour was divided into four parts. The first half of 
the hour was spent in testing for insulation. During the second half, 
which was divided into three periods of ten minutes each, tests were 
made to ascertain the resistance of the conductor and to prove the con- 
tinuity of the same. All these tests were of such a nature as to afford 
no criterion whatever of the state of the iusulation during their con- 
tinuance, so that during the half of each hour, or, in other words, 
during half the time spent in laying the cable, the insulation test was 
neglected. Also, while the insulation test was being made, there was 
no means of communicating with the shore, as the observations were 
taken on board only. This year, a test for insulation is constantly kept 
on, and, by Mr. Willoughby Smith's arrangement, corresponding obser- 
vations are made both on ship and shore. At stated times during the 
hour, the continuity test is made at the shore station by means of a 
condenser applied to the conductor of the cable. The effect of this is 
to increase the deflection on the ship's insulation galvanometer, thus 
serving as a continuity test. Communications from shore to ship are 
also made by these means. The ship can send signals to the shore by 
21 



322 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

Every possible precaution was taken to guard 
against such accidents as had marred the success of 
the year before. Remembering how small a thing 
had sufficed to puncture the cable, the men in the 
tank were not allowed to wear boots or shoes with 
nails in their heels, but were cased from head to foot 
in canvas dresses, drawn over their ordinary sailor 
costume, and, with slippers on their feet, they glided 
about softly as ghosts. But we turn to Mr. Deane's 
diary for a record of the progress from day to day : 

"Sunday, July 15. — All through yesterday the paying-out 
machinery worked so smoothly — the electrical tests were so 
perfect — the weather was so fine, that fresh confidence in 
the ultimate result has been naturally inspired. The recol- 
lection, however, of the reverses of the expedition of 1865 is 
always before those who have the greatest reliance on suc- 
cess; and there is a quiet repose about the manner of the 
chief practical men on board, which is an earnest that they 
will not allow themselves to be carried away by the smooth- 
ness of twenty-four hours' events. The convoy kept their 
position accurately during the day. The Terrible signalled 
that a man had fallen overboard. Her cutter was speedily 
lowered. The sailor had, however, laid hold of a rope 
thrown to him from the frigate, before the boat reached 
him. 

simply reversing the current for certain lengths of time, answering to 
some understood code, or by increasing and diminishing the tension of 
the line, according to a prearranged plan. All these operations may be 
performed without interrupting the insulation test, except for a few 
seconds while the current is being reversed. So far for the new system 
in the electrical room as compared with last year," 



VICTORY AT LAST. 323 

"Monday. — Still everything going on well. The sea like 
a mill-pond. The paying out of the cable from the after 
tank progressing with uniformity and steadiness, and the 
electrical tests perfect. 

"Our track is about thirty miles to the south of that of last 
year, and at that distance we passed parallel to where the 
telegraph cable parted in August, 1857. Our average speed 
has been about five knots. We were obliged to stop the 
screw engines in order to bring down to that speed, and, 
moreover, to reduce the paddle boiler power. Captain 
Anderson's ingenious mode of cleaning the ship's bottom, 
which he carried out last winter at Sheerness, has proved to 
have effected this very desirable object. Mr. Beckwith, the 
engineer, is now enabled to regulate and adjust her speed, 
and get more out of the ship than he could last year, when 
her bottom was one incrusted mass of mussels. 

" Tuesday. — Another twenty-four hours of uninterrupted 
success. All day yesterday it was so calm that the masts of 
our convoy were reflected in the ocean, an unusual thing to 
see. A large shoal of porpoises gambolled about us for half 
an hour. A glorious sunset, and later, a crescent moon, 
which we hope to see in the brightness of her full, lighting 
our way into Trinity Bay before the days of this July shall 
have ended." 

But the whole night did not pass away so tranquilly. 
By midnight the rain fell fast, and the wind blew 
fiercely, and then occurred the only real alarm of the 
voyage. The scene is thus described by Mr. Deane : 

"All went on well until twenty minutes past twelve a.m., 
Greenwich time, when the first real shock was given to the 



32i STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

success which has hitherto attended us, and this time Ave had 
real cause to he alarmed. A foul flake took place in the 
after tank. The engines were immediately turned astern, 
and the paying out of the cable stopped. We were all soon 
on deck, and learned that the running or paying-out part of 
the coil had caught three turns of the flake immediately 
under it, carried them into the eye of the coil, fouling the 
lay out, and hauling up one and a half turns from the out- 
side, and five turns in the eye of the under flake. This 
was stopped, fortunately, before entering the paying out 
machinery. Stoppers of hemp also were put on near the 
Y- wheel astern, and Mr. Canning gave orders to stand by to 
let go the buoy. This was not Yery cheering to hear, but 
his calm and collected manner gave us all confidence that 
his skill and experience would extricate the cable from the 
obvious danger in which it was placed. No fishing line was 
ever entangled worse than the rope was when thrust up in 
apparently hopeless knots from the eye of the coil to the 
deck. There at least Rve hundred feet of rope lay in this 
state, in the midst of thick rain and increasing wind. The 
cable crew set to work under their chief engineer's instruc- 
tions to disentangle it. Mr. Halpin was there too, patiently 
following the bights as they showed themselves ; the crew 
now passing them forward, now aft, until at last the charac- 
ter of the tangle was seen, and soon it became apparent that 
ere long the cable would be cleared. All this time Captain 
Anderson w r as at the taflrail anxiously watching the strain 
on the rox>e, which he could scarcely make out, the night 
was so dark, and endeavoring to keep it up and down, going 
on and reversing with paddle and screw. When one reflects 
for a moment upon the size of the ship, and the enormous 
mass she presents to the wind, the difficulty of keeping her 



VICTORY AT LAST. 325 

stern, under the circumstances, over the cable, can be 
appreciated. The port paddle-wheel was disconnected ; but 
shortly afterward there was a shift of wind, and the vessel 
canted the wrong* way. "Welcome voices were now heard 
passing the word aft from the tank that the bights were 
cleared, and to pay out. Then the huge stoppers were 
gently loosened, and at five minutes past two a.m., to the 
joy of all, we were once more discharging the cable. They 
veered it away in the tank to clear away the foul flake until 
three a.m.. when the screw and paddle engines were slowed 
so as to reduce the speed of the ship to four and a half knots. 
During all tins critical time there was an entire absence of 
noise and confusion. Every order was silently obeyed, and 
the cable men and crew worked with hearty good- will. Mr. 
Canning has had experience of foul iiakes before, and showed 
that he knew what to do in the emergency. But what of 
the electrical condition of the cable during this period ? 
Simply, that through its entire length it was perfect," 

Thus, after three anxious hours, the danger was 
past, and the next morning the report of the ship is, 
" A fresh breeze from the southward, a dull gray sky, 
with occasional rain, and a moderate sea." 

4 'Thursday. — There was a fresh breeze in the afternoon 
yesterday, increasing toward evening. It brought a heavy 
swell on the port quarter, which caused the ship to roll. 
The paying out from the after tank went on steadily. Two 
of the large buoys were lifted by derrick from the deck near 
the bows of the ship, and placed in position on the port and 
starboard side of the forward pick-up machinery, ready for 
letting go if necessary. The sun went down with an angry 



326 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

look, and the scud came rapidly from the eastward, the sea 
rising. A wind dead aft is not the best for cable laying, 
particularly if any accident should take place. By half-past 
eleven to-night we shall have exhausted the contents of the 
after tank, and the cable will then be paid out from the fore 
tank along the trough to the stern, the distance from the 
centre of the tank to the paying-out machinery being four 
hundred and ninety-four feet. Last night the swell was 
very heavy, to which the Great Eastern proved herself not 
insensible. Her rolling, like everything else appertaining 
to her, is done on a grand scale. We see the liveliness with 
which that operation is performed on board the Albany and 
Medway, and we are not at all disposed to be too critical in 
our observations on our own movements. The speed of the 
ship was kept at four and a half during the night — the 
slower the better, is the opinion of all on board — festina 
lente. We are consuming about one hundred tons a day of 
the seven thousand tons of coal which we had on board 
when we left Berehaven, and Mr. Beckwith, who has been 
engineer of the Great Eastern from her first voyage to the 
present moment, says her engines were never in better 
order ; and their appearance and working do him and his 
able staff of assistant engineers the greatest credit. 

''Friday. — Yesterday was a day of complete success, the 
paying out in every respect satisfactory. The wind still from 
the eastward, but inclined to draw to the northward, the sea 
entirely gone dqwn. As Mr. Canning told us we should see 
the after tank emptied at eleven o'clock, ship's time, we were 
all collected there about ten o'clock, by which time the cable 
was down to the last flake. Next to having daylight for 
changing from the after to the fore tank, we could not have 
had a more favorable time— clear starlight, no wind, and a 



VICTORY AT LAST. 327 

smooth sea. Looking down into the tank, the scene was 
highly picturesque. The cable-watch, whose figures were 
lighted up by the lamps suspended from above, slowly and 
cautiously lifted the turns of the coil to ease their path to the 
eye. As each found its way to the drum, the wooden floor 
of the tank showed itself, and then we saw more floor, and 
as its area increased the cable swept along its surface with a 
low, subdued noise, until, with a graceful curve, it mounted 
to the outlet, where it was soon to join a fresh supply ; and 
now we hear the word passed that they have arrived at the 
last turn, and the men who stood on the stages of the plat- 
form of the eye with the bight, watch the arrival of the 
cable and pass it up with tender caution, until it reaches 
the summit ; then it rushes down a wooden incline to meet 
the spliced rope, which had by this time come down along 
the trough leading from the forward tank. This operation 
was conducted with great skill by Mr. Canning and his ex- 
perienced assistants, Messrs. Clifford and Temple. At eleven 
minutes past one a.m. (Greenwich time), the fresh rope was 
going over the stern, and the screw engines going ahead at 
thirteen minutes past one. A watch of four men is now sta- 
tioned, fore and aft, all along the trough, which is illumi- 
nated by many lamps at short distances from each other. A 
lamp with a green light indicates the mile-mark as it comes 
up from the tank, and this signal is repeated until it reaches 
the stern, where it is recorded by the clerk who keeps the 
cable-log, in an office adjoining the paying-out machinery. 
A red lamp indicates danger. During the daytime red and 
blue flags are used. All through the night the sea was 
smooth as glass, and by this morning we saw that a sensible 
impression had been made on the contents of the fore tank. 
The ship begins to lighten at the bows, and by this time to- 



328 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

morrow will come up more as the came passes out of the 
tank. 

"Saturday. — Yesterday was our seventh day of paying 
out cable, and so far we have been more fortunate than the 
expedition of last year. During the same period of 1865, 
two faults had occurred — one on the twenty-fourth July, the 
other on the twenty-ninth — causing a detention of fifty-six 
hours. At three P.M. we were half-way, and passed where 
the Atlantic Cable of 1858 parted twice, on the twenty-sixth 
and twenty-eighth of June — sad memories to many ! We 
feel, however, that every hour is increasing our chance of 
effecting this great work. ' I believe we shall do it this 
time, Jack,' I heard one of our crew say to another last 
night. ' I believe so too, Bill, ' was the reply ; ' and if we 
don't, we deserve to do it, and that's all.' It blew very hard 
from two o'clock yesterday, up to 10 P.M., by which time the 
wind gradually found its way from south-west to north-west, 
which is right ahead, just what we want for cable-laying. 
The Terrible and the two other ships plunged into the very 
heavy sea which the southwester raised, and we made up 
our minds, from what we saw, that the Great Eastern is the 
right ship to be in, in a gale of wind. During the night 
heavy showers of rain. This morning the sea was compara- 
tively smooth, and the sky showed welcome patches of 
bright blue. If all goes well, we shall be up to-morrow 
evening at the place where last year's cable parted. A 
couple of days would bring us to shallower water, and 
then we may fairly look out for our ' Heart's Content. ' 
Messages come from England, with the news, regularly 
and speedily — excellent practice for the clerks on shore 
and on board ship — great comfort to us, and the best 
evidence to those who will read this journal, of the great 



VICTORY AT LAST. 329 

fact that, up to this time, the cable is doing its electric 
work efficiently. " 

The interest of the voyage was greatly increased by 
the news daily received from Europe. Though in the 
middle of the Atlantic, they were still joined with the 
Old World, and messages came to the " Great Eastern 
Telegraph " as regularly as to the Times in London ; 
reporting the quotations of the Stock Exchange, the 
debates in Parliament, and all the news of home. But 
what was far more exciting, was the tidings of the 
great events transpiring on the Continent. While the 
expedition had been preparing in England, a war 
had broken out of tremendous magnitude. Austria, 
Prussia, and Italy had rushed into the field. Armies, 
such as had not met since the fatal day of Leipsic, 
stood in battle array, and the thunder of war was 
echoing and reechoing among the mountains of Bohe- 
mia. Amid these convulsions the fleet set sail ; bat it 
was still linked with the nations which it left behind, 
and received tidings from day to day. What great 
events were thus heralded to them in mid-ocean may 
be seen by a few items gleaned from the numerous 
despatches : 

" Saturday evening*, July 14th. — General Cialdini is mov- 
ing upon Rovigo with an army of one hundred thousand 
men and two hundred guns. The Austrians have evacuated 
the whole country between the Mincio and Adige." 

A day or two later: 



330 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

"Cialdini has occupied Padua, twenty-three miles from 
Venice, on the railway connecting that city with the Quad- 
rilateral, and the Austrians are shut up in Venice. ,, 

u Tuesday, 17th. — Prussians had successful engagement he- 
fore Olmiitz yesterday; captured six guns. Further fighting 
expected to-day. Austrians withdrawing from Moldavia 
toward Vienna." '"Conflict between Prussians and Fed- 
erals. Prussians completely victorious. Federals evacuat- 
ing Frankfort, and Prussians marching there." 

u Thursday, 19th. — Prussians repeating victories, and 
gaining adhesions from small States. The main army within 
fifty miles of Vienna — have cut the railway to Vienna. 
Austrian army between Prussians and Vienna, under Arch- 
duke, one hundred and sixty thousand men. Money and 
archives removed from Vienna to Comorn." 

''20th. — Frankfort occupied by the Prussians, who are 
marching on Vienna. Yesterday, Italian fleet, consisting of 
iron-clad vessels and several steamers, opened attack on 
Island of Lissa on the coast of Dalmatia — result not known." 

The next day it is reported thus : 

"Severe naval engagement off Lissa. Austrians claim 
the victory. Sunk one Italian iron-clad, run down another, 
blew up a third." 

" July 21st. — Prussians crossed river ; march near Holitzon, 
Hungary. Austria accepted proposal of armistice. Prussia 
will abstain from hostilities for five days, during which Aus- 
tria will have to notify acceptance of preliminaries. A long 
letter published from the King of Prussia to the Queen, giv- 
ing account of battle of Koniggratz." 

The interest excited b} r such news may be imag- 
ined, coming while the events were yet fresh. Twice 



VICTORY AT LAST. 331 

a day was the bulletin set up on the deck, and was sur- 
rounded by an eager crowd reading what had trans- 
pired on the Continent but a few hours before. Nor 
was the intelligence confined to the Great Eastern. 
By an arrangement of signals, more complete than 
ever was used in a squadron before, the news was tele- 
graphed to the convoy. All the ships had been fur- 
nished with experienced signal-men by the Admiralty. 
The system adopted was that known as Colomb's 
Flash Signals, by which, even in the darkest night, 
messages could easily be flashed to a distance of several 
miles. Thus all the ships were supplied with news 
twice a day, and the great military events in Europe 
were discussed in every cabin as eagerly as in the 
clubs of London. Again Deane's Diary reports: 

"Sunday, July 22d. — Still success to record. A bright 
clear day, with a fresh and invigorating' breeze from the 
north-west. Cable going out with unerring smoothness, 
at the rate of six miles an hour. There has been great im- 
provement in the insulation. This remarkable improvement 
is attributable to the greatly decreased temperature of, and 
pressure on, the cable in the sea. This is a very satisfactory 
result to Mr. Willoughby Smith. Signals, too, come every 
hour more distinctly. This morning the breeze freshened. 
We are now about thirty miles to the southward of the place 
where the cable parted on the second of August, 1865, having 
then paid out one thousand two hundred and thirteen miles. 
Captain Anderson read divine service in the dining saloon. 

"Monday. — Between six and seven p.m. vesterdav, we 



332 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

passed over the deepest part of our course. There was no ad- 
ditional strain on the dynamometer, which indicated from 
ten to fourteen hundred, the cahle going out with its accus- 
tomed regularity. The wind still fresh from the north-west. 
During the night it went round to the southwest, and this 
morning there is a long roll from the southward. 

"At forty -six minutes past eleven A.M., Mr. Cyrus Field 
sent a message to Yalentia, requesting Mr. Glass to obtain 
the latest news from Egypt, India, and China, and other dis- 
tant countries, so that on our arrival at Heart's Content we 
shall he able to transmit it to the principal cities of the 
United States. In just eight minutes he had a reply in these 
words: 'Your message received, and is in London by this.' 
Outside the telegraph room there is a placard put up, on 
which is posted the news shortly after its arrival, and groups 
of the crew may be seen reading it, just as we see a crowd at 
a newspaper office in London. Mr. Dudley, the artist, has 
made a very spirited sketch of ' Jack ' reading the morning 
news, for he is supplied with the latest intelligence from the 
seat of war twice a day ! * How he will grumble when he 
gets ashore ! He is not going to pay a pound a word for news, 
but his newspapers will supply it to him, and he does not 
know or care what it costs. But what a sum has been spent 
in Atlantic telegraphs ! It cannot now fall short of two mil- 
lions and a half of pounds, or over twelve millions of dollars. 
More millions will be found if it shall be practically proved 
that America can permanently talk to England, and through 
her to the eastern hemisphere, and England to America 
by this ocean wire. At a quarter to twelve to-day but 

* Mr. Dudley made a number of sketches for Mr. Field, with several 
large paintings, which have furnished the illustrations for this volume. 



VICTORY AT LAST. 333 

two hundred and fifteen miles of cable remained to be paid 
out of the fore tank. To-morrow night we hope to see it 
empty — then, for a small supply from the main tank, and 

then but, hopeful though we are, let us not anticipate. 

ik Tuesday. — Breakfast at eight. Lunch at one. Dinner 
at six. Tea at eight. Five hundred and two souls who live 
on board this huge ship following their prescribed occupa- 
tions. Cable going out merrily. Electrical tests and signals 
perfect, and this is the history of what has taken place from 
noon yesterday to noon to-day. May we have three days 
more of such delightful monotony ! It rained very hard 
during yesterday evening, and as we approach the Banks of 
Newfoundland we get thick and hazy weather. 1 ' 

The latter part of the voyage did not fulfil in all 
respects the promise of the first. The bright skies 
were gone; and instead perpetual fog hung over the 
water, while often the clouds poured down their floods. 
Thus the diary continues : 

4 'Wednesday. — Fog and thick rain — just the weather to 
expect on approaching the Banks of Newfoundland. The 
convoy keep their position, and though sometimes the fog 
hides the ships from our view, yet we know where they are 
by their signal- whistles — two from the Terrible, three from 
the Med way, and four from the Albany, which are replied 
to' by the prolonged single shriek from our whistle. At 
fifty-two minutes past one, Greenwich time (ship's time, 
forty-five minutes past ten p.m., last night), the fore tank 
being nearly empty, preparations were made for passing the 
bight of the cable into the main tank. At fifteen minutes 
past two all the jockey-wheels of the paying-out machinery 



334 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

were up, and the brakes released. Twenty-three minutes 
past two the bight was passed steadily and cautiously by the 
cable hands outside of the trough to the main tank, and at 
thirty-five minutes past two the splice went over the stern 
in 1542.8 fathoms. By arrangement with Sir James Hope, 
the admiral of the North- American station, who has received 
instructions from the Admiralty to give the present expedi- 
tion every assistance in his power, a frigate or sloop will be 
placed in longitude 48°, 25\ 52", which is just thirty miles 
from the entrance of Trinity Bay, and sixty from Heart's 
Content. She will probably hang on by a kedge in that 
position, which shows the ' fair way ' right up the bay ; 
and if it be clear, we ought to see her about daybreak on 
Friday morning. The fog was very thick this morning, but 
occasionally lifts ; as long as the wind is from south-west 
we cannot expect clear weather." 

As the week drew on, it was evident that the} T were 
approaching the end of their voyage. By Thursday 
they had passed the great depths of the ^Atlantic, and 
were off soundings. Besides their daily observations, 
there w r ere many signs, well known to mariners, that 
they were near the coast. There were the sea-birds, 
and they could almost snuff the smell of the land, such 
as once greeted the sharp senses of Columbus, and 
made him sure that he was floating to some undiscov- 
ered shore. Captain Anderson had timed his departure 
so that he should approach the American coast at the 
full moon ; but for the last two or three nights, as the 
round orb rose behind them, banks of cloud hung so 



VICTORY AT LAST. 335 

heavily upon the water, that the moonlight only 
gleamed faintly through the vaporous air, and the 
fleet seemed like the phantom ships of the Ancient 
Mariner, drifting on through fog and mist. 

11 Thursday. — All day yesterday it was as 'thick as mus- 
tard." We have had now forty-eight hours of fog. Though 
it lifted a little this morning, at five a.m., it still looks like 
more of it. Captain Anderson signalled to the Albany, at 
fifteen minutes past ten last night, to start at daybreak, and 
proceed to discover the station ship, and report us at hand. 
Should she fail to find her, then to try and make the land 
and guide us up Trinity Bay. Another signal was sent at 
half-past twelve to the effect that the Terrible and Medway 
would be sent ahead to meet the Albany and establish a line 
to lead us in even with a fog. The Albany started at half- 
past three. At forty-five minutes past four, Greenwich 
time, the cable engineer in charge took one weight off each 
brake of the paying-out machinery. At forty minutes past 
seven all weights taken off, the assumed depth being three 
hundred fathoms. The indicated strain on the dynamome- 
ter gradually decreasing. Speed of ship five knots. We 
are going to try and pick up the cable of 1865 in two thou- 
sand five hundred fathoms (and we mean to succeed too) ; 
therefore should the cable we are now paying out part, it 
can be understood how easy it would be to raise it from a 
depth of three hundred fathoms. At fifty-five minutes past 
eight we signalled to the Terrible to sound, and received a 
reply, one hundred and sixty fathoms. At half-past eleven 
we informed her that when at the buoy off Heart's Content 
she should have her paddle-box boat and two cutters ready 
to be alongside immediately, for holding the bight of the 



336 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

cable during the splice and laying the shore end. The 
Med way was told at the same time to prepare two five-inch 
ropes, and two large mushroom anchors, with fifty fathoms 
of chain, for anchoring during the splice in one hundred 
and seventy fathoms of water, and w r e intimated to her that 
when inside of Trinity Bay we should signal for two boats 
to take hands on board her for shore end. News of to-day, 
telegram from Mr. G-lass in reply to one from Mr. Canning : 
I congratulate you all most sincerely on your arrival in 
one hundred and thirty fathoms. I hope nothing will inter- 
fere to mar the hitherto brilliant success, and that the cable 
will be landed to-morrow.'" 

As the voyage is about to end, Ave give the distances 
run from day to day, which show a remarkable uni- 
formity of progress : 

Distance Run. Cable Paid Out. 

Saturday, fourteenth, 108 115 

Sunday, fifteenth, 128 139 

Monday, sixteenth, 115 137 

Tuesday, seventeenth, 117 138 

Wednesday, eighteenth, 104 • 125 

Thursday, nineteenth, 112 129 

Friday, twentieth, 117 127 

Saturday, twenty-first, 121 136 

Sunday, twenty-second, 123 133 

Monday, twenty-third, 121 138 

Tuesday, twenty-fourth, 120 135 

Wednesday, twenty-fifth, 119 130 

Thursday, twenty-sixth, 128 134 

Friday, twenty -seventh, 100 104 



VICTORY AT LAST. 337 

From this it appears that the speed of the ship was 
exactly according to the running time fixed before 
she left England. On the last voyage it was thought 
that she had once or twice run too fast, and thus ex- 
posed the cable to danger. It was, therefore, decided 
to go slowiy but surely. Holding her back to this 
moderate pace, her average speed, from the time the 
splice was made till they saw land, was a little less 
than five nautical miles an hour, while the cable was 
paid out at an average of not quite five and a half 
miles. Thus the total slack was about eleven per cent, 
showing that the cable was laid almost in a straight 
line, allowing for the swells and hollows in the bottom 
of the sea. 

"Friday, July 27th. — Shortly after two P.M., yesterday, 
two ships, which were soon made out to be steamers, were 
seen to the westward ; and the Terrible, steaming on ahead, 
in about an hour signalled to us that H.M.S. Niger was one 
of them, accompanied by the Albany. The Niger, Captain 
Bruce, sent a boat to the Terrible as soon as he came up with 
her. The Albany shortly afterward took up her position on 
our starboard quarter, and signalled that she spoke the Niger 
at noon, bearing E. by N. , and that the Lily was anchored 
at the station in the entrance of Trinity Bay, as arranged 
with the Admiral. The Albany also reported that she had 
passed an iceberg about sixty feet high. At twenty minutes 
after four p.m., the Niger came on our port side, quite close, 
and Captain Bruce, sending the crew to the rigging and 
manning the yards, gave us three cheers, which were heart- 



338 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

ily returned by the Great Eastern. She then steamed ahead 
toward Trinity Bay. The Albany was signalled to go on 
immediately to Heart's Content, clear the northeast side of 
the harbor of shipping, and place a boat with a red flag for 
Captain Anderson to steer to, for anchorage. Just before 
dinner we saw on the southern horizon, distant about ten 
miles, an iceberg, probably the one which the Albany met 
with. It was apparently about fifty or sixty feet in height. 
The fog came on very thick about eight p.m., and between 
that and ten we were constantly exchanging guns and burn- 
ing blue lights with the Terrible, which, with the Niger, 
went in search of the Lily, station ship. The Terrible being 
signalled to come up and take her position, informed us 
they had made the Lily out, and that she bore then about 
E.N.E. distant four miles. Later in the night Captain Com- 
merill said that if Captain Anderson would stop the Great 
Eastern, he would send the surveyor Mr. Robinson, R. N., 
who came out in the Niger, on board of us, and about three 
the engines were slowed, and the Terrible shortly afterwards 
came alongside with that officer. Catalina light, at the 
entrance of Trinity Bay, had been made out three hours 
before this, and the loom of the coast had also been seen. 
Fog still prevailing ! According to Mr. Robinson's account, 
if they got one clear day in seven at the entrance of Trinity 
Bay, they considered themselves fortunate. Here we are 
now (six a.m.), within ten miles of Heart's Content, and we 
can scarcely see more than a ship's length. The Niger, how- 
ever, is ahead, and her repeated guns tell us where we are 
with accuracy. Good fortune follows us, and scarcely has 
eight o'clock arrived when the massive curtain of fog raises 
itself gradually from both shores of Trinity Bay, disclosing 
to us the entrance of Heart's Content, the Albany making 



VICTORY AT LAST. 339 

for the harbor, the Margaretta Stevenson, surveying vessel, 
steaming out to meet us, the prearranged pathway all 
marked with buoys by Mr. J. H. Kerr, R N., and a whole 
fleet of fishing boats fishing at the entrance. 

1 ' We could now plainly see that Heart's Content, so far as 
its capabilities permitted, was prepared to welcome us. The 
British and American flags floated from the church and tele- 
graph station and other buildings. "We had dressed ship, 
fired a salute, and given three cheers, and Captain Commer- 
ill of H.M.S. Terrible was soon on board to congratulate us 
on our success. At nine o'clock, ship's time, just as we had 
cut the cable and made arrangements for the Medway to 
lay the shore end, a message arrived giving us the conclud- 
ing words of a leader in this morning's Times : ; It is a great 
work, a glory to our age and nation, and the men who have 
achieved it deserve to be honored among the benefactors of 
their race.' — ' Treaty of peace signed between Prussia and 
Austria ! ' It was now time for the chief engineer, Mr. 
Canning, to make the necessary preparations for splicing on 
board the Medway. Accompanied by Mr. Gooch. M.P., 
Mr. Clifford, Mr. Willoughby Smith, and Messrs. Temple 
and Deane, he went on board, the Terrible and Niger having 
sent their paddle-box boats and cutters to assist. Shortly 
afterward the Great Eastern steamed into the harbor and 
anchored on the north-east side, and was quickly sur- 
rounded by boats laden with visitors. Mr. Cyrus Field had 
come on shore before the Great Eastern had left the offing, 
with a view of telegraphing to St. John's to hire a vessel to 
repair the cable unhappily broken between Cape Eay, in 
Newfoundland, and Cape North, in Breton Island. Before a 
couple of hours the shore end will be landed, and it is im- 
possible to conceive a finer day for effecting this our final 



340 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

operation. Even here, people can scarcely realize the fact 
that the Atlantic Telegraph Cable has been laid. To-mor- 
row, however, Heart's Content * will awaken to the fact that 
it is a highly favored place in the world's esteem, the west- 
ern landing-place of that marvel of electric communication 
with the Eastern hemisphere, which is now happily, and we 
hope finally, established." 

This simple record, so modestly termed the Diary of 
the Expedition, tells the story of this memorable 
voyage in a way that needs no embellishment. But if 
from the ship's deck we transfer ourselves to the shore, 
we may get a new impression of the closing scene. 
We can well believe the sensation of wonder and 
almost of awe, on the morning when the ships entered 
that little harbor of Newfoundland. In England the 

* The little harbor that bears this gentle name, is a sheltered nook 
where ships may ride at anchor, safe from the storms of the ocean. It 
is but an inlet from the great arm of the sea known as Trinity Bay, 
which is sixty or seventy miles long, and twenty miles broad. On the 
beach is a small village of some sixty houses, most of which are the hum- 
ble dwellings of those hardy men who vex the northern seas with their fish- 
eries. The place was never heard of outside of Newfoundland till 1864, 
when Mr. Field, sailing up Trinity Bay in the surveying steamer Marga- 
retta Stevenson, Captain Orlebar, R. N., in search of a place for the land- 
ing of the ocean cable, fixed upon this secluded spot. The old landing 
of 1858 was at the Bay of Bull's Arm, at the head of Trinity Bay, twenty 
miles above. Heart's Content was chosen now because its waters are 
still and deep, so that a cable skirting the north side of the Banks of 
Newfoundland can be brought in deep water almost till it touches the 
shore. All around the land rises to pine-crested heights ; and here the 
telegraphic fleet, after its memorable voyage, lay in quiet, under the 
shadow of the encircling hills. 



VICTORY AT LAST. 341 

progress of the expedition was known from day to day, 
but on this side of the ocean all was uncertainty. 
Some had gone to Heart's Content, hoping to witness 
the arrival of the fleet, but not so many as the year 
before, for the memory of the last failure was too fresh, 
and they feared another disappointment. But still a 
faithful few were there, who kept their daily watch. 
The correspondents of the American papers report 
only a long and anxious suspense, till the morning 
when the first ship was seen in the offing. As they 
looked toward her, she came nearer — and see, there is 
another and another ! And now the hull of the Great 
Eastern loomed up all glorious in the morning sky. 
They were coming ! Instantly all was wild excitement 
on shore. Boats put off to row toward the fleet. The 
Albany was the first to round the point and enter the 
bay. - The Terrible was close behind. The Medway 
stopped an hour or two to join on the heavy shore end, 
while the Great Eastern, gliding calmly in as if she 
had done nothing remarkable, dropped her anchor in 
front of the telegraph house, having trailed behind her 
a chain of two thousand miles, to bind the Old World 
to the New. 

That same afternoon, as soon as the shore end was 
landed, Captain Anderson and the officers of the fleet 
went in a body to the little church in Heart's Content, 
to render thanks for the success of the expedition. A 
sermon was preached on the text, " There shall be no 



342 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

more sea," and all joined in the sublime prayers and 
thanksgivings of the Church of England. Thus the 
voyage ended as it began. It left the shores of Ireland 
with prayers wafted after it as a benediction. And 
now, safely landed on the shores of the New World, 
this gallant company, like Columbus and his compan- 
ions, made it their first thought to render homage to 
the Being who had borne them safely across the deep. 
But though their voyage was ended, there was still 
a work to be done. Having crossed the Atlantic, the 
first thing was to open communication with the cities 
of the United States. And now Mr. Field was ex- 
tremely mortified to find that there was a large gap in 
the line this side of the ocean. His first question to 
the Superintendent, who came out in a boat to meet 
him, was in regard to the cable across the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence, which had been interrupted the year before ; 
and it was a bitter pang to hear that it lay still broken, 
so that a message which came from Ireland in a 
moment of time, was delayed twenty-four hours in its 
way to New York. Of course the public grew im- 
patient, and there were many sneers at the want of 
foresight which had failed to provide against such a 
contingency ; and, as he was the one chiefly known in 
connection with the enterprise, these reproaches fell 
upon him. He did not tell the public, what was the 
truth, that he had anticipated this very trouble long 
ago, and entreated his associates to be prepared for it. 



VICTORY AT LAST. 343 

Months before he left for England, he urged upon the 
Company in New York the necessity of rebuilding 
their lines in Newfoundland, which had been standing 
over ten years, and of repairing the old cable, and 
also laying a new one across the Gulf of St. Law- 
rence. But this would cost a large sum of money, 
and as their faith and purses had been sorely tried by 
repeated disasters, they were not willing to spend 
more in the uncertainty of the future. They wished 
to see the result of this new expedition, before ad- 
vancing further capital. We do not blame them, 
but only mention the fact to show that Mr. Field 
had foreseen this very thing, and endeavored to guard 
against it. 

But regrets were idle. What could he do to repair 
the injury % " Is there a steamer," he asked, " to be 
had in these waters ? " " The Bloodhound is at St. 
John's." " Telegraph instantly to charter her to go 
around to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and fish up the 
old cable and repair it. But that may take several 
weeks. Is there nothing else that can serve in the 
mean time to carry despatches across the Gulf ? " 
" There is a little steamer, called the Dauntless." 
u Well, telegraph for her too. Secure her at all hazards ; 
only see that the work is done." All this was the work 
of a few minutes. The answers came back quickly, and 
in a day or two came the steamers themselves. The 
arrangement was immediately carried out. The Daunt- 



344 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

less took her place in the Gulf, where she made her 
regular trips from Port au Basque, in Newfoundland, 
to Aspee Bay, in Cape Breton, keeping up daily com- 
munication with the States. The Bloodhound, which 
had a more difficult task, first took on board eleven 
miles of cable from the Great Eastern, to repair that 
which was broken. The expedition was put in charge 
of Mr. A. M. Mackay, the indefatigable Superintendent 
of the Company in Newfoundland, who had had the 
care of their lines for ten years. He sailed for Aspee 
Bay, and made short work of the business, dragging 
the Gulf and raising the cable, which he found had 
been broken by an anchor, in water seventy fathoms 
deep, a few miles from shore. This was spliced out 
with a portion of the new cable, and the whole was 
as perfect as ever, giving a fresh proof that cables well 
made are likely to be permanent, if not indestructible. 

Meanwhile, owing to this interruption of the cable 
across the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the news of the 
success of the expedition, which reached Newfound^ 
land on Friday, the twenty-seventh, did not reach New 
York till the twenty-ninth. It was early Sunday 
morning, before the Sabbath bells had rung their call 
to prayer, that the tidings came. The first announce- 
ment was brief : " Heart's Content, July 27. — We 
arrived here at nine o'clock this morning. All well. 
Thank God, the cable is laid, and is in perfect work- 
ing order. Cyrus W. Field." 



VICTORY AT LAST. 345 

Soon followed the despatch to the Associated Press, 
giving the details of the voyage, and ending with a 
just tribute to the skill and devotion of all who had 
contributed to its success. Said Mr. Field : " I cannot 
find words suitable to convey my admiration for the 
men who have so ably conducted the nautical, en- 
gineering, and electrical departments of this enterprise, 
amidst difficulties which must be seen to be appre- 
ciated. In fact, all on board of the telegraph fleet, 
and all connected with the enterprise, have done their 
best to have the cable made and laid in a perfect con- 
dition ; and He who rules the winds and the waves 
has crowned their united efforts with perfect success." 

Other despatches followed in quick succession, giv- 
ing the latest events of the war in Europe, which 
startled the public just reading news a fortnight old. 
All this confirmed the great triumph, and filled every 
heart with wonder and gratitude on the Sunday morn- 
ing, as they went again to the little church and ren- 
dered thanks to Him who is Lord of the earth and sea. 

While the Great Eastern was lying in the harbor of 
Heart's Content, she was overrun with visitors. The 
news of her arrival had spread over the island, and 
from far and near the people flocked to see her. Over 
the hills they came on foot and on horseback, and in 
wagons and carts of every description ; and from along 
the shore in boats and fishing-smacks, and sloops and 
schooners. They came from the most remote parts 



346 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

of the island — a distance of* three hundred miles — and 
even from the province of New Brunswick. Several 
parties made the excursion in steamers from St. John's. 
The wondering county folk climbed up the sides of 
the ship, and wandered for hours through its spacious 
rooms and long passages. All were welcomed with 
hearty sailor courtesy. 

As soon as communication was opened with New 
York, and other cities, congratulations poured in from 
every quarter. Friendly messages were exchanged — 
as eight years before — between the sovereign of Eng- 
land and the head of the Great Republic. The Pres- 
ident also, and Mr. Seward, Secretary of State, sent 
their congratulations to Mr. Field — greetings that were 
repeated from the most distant States. Among others 
was a message from San Francisco, which was put into 
his hand almost at the same moment with one from 
M. de Lesseps, dated at Alexandria in Egypt ! What 
a meeting and mingling of voices was this, when a 
winged salutation flying over the tops of the Rocky 
Mountains, reached the same ear with a message which 
had been whispered along the Mediterranean and 
under the Atlantic: Avhen the farthest East touched 
the farthest West — the most ancient of kingdoms an- 
swering to the new-born empire of the Pacific. 



CHAPTEE XVII. 

RECOVERY OF THE LOST CABLE. 

Though the Great Eastern was still lying in the 
little harbor of Heart's Content, casting her mighty 
shadow on its tranquil waters, she was not " content " 
with her amazing victory, but sighed for another 
greater still. Though she had done enough to be 
laid up for a year, still she had one more test of her 
prowess — to recover the cable of 1865, which had been 
lost in the middle of the Atlantic. So eager were all 
for this second trial of their strength, that in less than 
five days two of the ships — the Albany and the Terri- 
ble — the vanguard of the telegraphic fleet, were on 
their way back to mid-ocean. Though it was only 
Friday, the 27th of July, that they reached land, they 
left early Wednesday morning, the first day of August. 
The Great Eastern was detained a week longer. She 
had to lay in immense supplies of coal. Anticipating 
this want, six ships had been despatched from Cardiff, 
in Wales, weeks before, to await the arrival of the fleet. 
One of these foundered at sea ; the others arrived out 
safely, and hardly had the Great Eastern cast anchor 
before they were alongside, ready to fill her bunkers. 



348 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

So ample was the provision, that, when she went to sea 
a few days after, she had nearly eight thousand tons of 
coal on board. 

At the same time she had to receive some six 
hundred miles of the cable of 1865, which had been 
shipped from England in the Med way. The latter 
was now brought alongside, and the whole was trans- 
ferred into the main tank of the Great Eastern, from 
which it was to be paid out in case the lost end were 
recovered. 

At length all these preparations were completed, and 
on Thursday, the 9th of August, the Great Eastern and 
the Medway put to sea. The Governor of Newfound- 
land, who had come around from St. John's and been 
received with the honors due his rank, accompanied 
them in the Lily down the broad expanse of Trinity 
Bay, and then bore away for St. John's while the 
Great Eastern and Medway kept on their course to 
join their companions in the middle of the Atlantic. 
Thev had a little over six hundred miles to run to the 
" fishing ground," and made it in three days. On 
Sunday noon they came in sight of the appointed ren- 
dezvous, and soon with glasses made out the Albany 
and the Terrible, which had arrived a week before 
and placed buoys to mark the line of the cable, 
and then, like giant sea-birds with folded wings, sat 
watching their prey. The sea was running high, so 
that boats could not come off, but the Albany signalled 



RECOVERY OF THE LOST CABLE. 349 

that she had not toiled for nothing ; that she had once 
hooked the cable, but lost it in rough weather. The 
history of this first attempt, though brief, was cheering. 

When the Albany left Heart's Content, Captain 
Moriarty went in her. He had been in the Great Eastern 
the year before, and saw where the cable went down, 
and had had his eye on the spot ever since. He claimed, 
with Captain Anderson, that he could go straight to it 
and place the ship within half a mile of where it disap- 
peared. At this old sailors shook their heads, and said, 
" They'd like to see him do it ; " " No man could come 
w T ithin two or three miles of any given place in the 
ocean." Yet the result proved the exactness of his 
observations. With unerring eye he went straight to 
the spot, and set his buoys as exactly as a fisherman 
sets his nets. 

In the Albany, also, had gone Mr. Temple, of Mr. 
Canning's staff. The ship had been fitted up with a 
complete set of buoys and apparatus for grappling; 
and he was full of ambition to recover the cable before 
the Great Eastern should come up. In this he had 
nearly proved successful. They had caught it once, 
and raised it a few hundred fathoms from the 
bottom, and buoyed it, but rough weather came on 
and tore away the buoy, so that the cable went down 
again, carrying two miles of rope. 

This was a disappointment, but still, as their first 
attempt was only a " feeler," the result was encour- 



350 STORY OP THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

aging. It showed that they had found the right place ; 
that the cable was there ; that it had not run away nor 
been floated off by those under-currents that exist in 
the imagination of some w r ise men of the sea ; nor that 
it was so imbedded in the ooze of the deep as to be 
beyond reach or recovery. All this was cheering, but 
as it promised to be a more difficult job than they had 
supposed, they were glad when the Great Eastern 
hove in sight that Sunday noon. 

The next morning Captain Moriarty and Mr. Tem- 
ple came on board, and after reporting their experi- 
ence, the chief officers of the Expedition held a council 
of war before opening the campaign. The fleet was 
all together, the weather was favorable, and it was 
determined at once to proceed to business. 

As the attempt is now to be renewed on a grand 
scale, the reader may wish some further details of the 
means employed to insure success. As nothing in this 
whole enterprise has excited such astonishment, noth- 
ing merits a more careful history. When it was first 
proposed to drag the bottom of the Atlantic for a cable 
lost in waters two and a half miles deep, the project 
was so daring that it seemed to be almost a war of 
the Titans upon the gods. Yet never was anything 
undertaken less in the spirit of reckless desperation. 
The cable was recovered, as a city is taken by siege — 
by slow approaches, and the sure and inevitable result 
of mathematical calculation. Every point was studied 



RECOVERY OP THE LOST CABLE. 351 

beforehand — the position of the broken end, the depth 
of the ocean, the length of rope needed to reach the 
bottom, and the strength required to lift the enormous 
weight. To find the place was a simple question of 
nautical astronomy — a calculation of latitude and lon- 
gitude. It seemed providential that, when the cable 
broke on the second of August, 1865, it was a few 
minutes after noon ; the sun was shining brightly, and 
they had just taken a perfect observation. This made 
it much easier to go back to the place again. The 
waters were very deep, but that they could touch 
bottom, and even grapple the cable, was proved by 
the experiments of the year before. But could any 
power be applied which should lift it without break- 
ing, and bring it safely on board ? This was a simple 
question of mechanics. Prof. Thomson had made a 
calculation that in raising the cable from a depth of 
two and a half miles, there would be about ten miles 
of its length suspended in the water. Of course, it 
was a very nice matter to graduate the strain so as not 
to break the cable. For this it had been suggested 
that two or three ships should grapple it at once, and 
lifting it together, ease the strain on any one point — 
a method of meeting the danger that was finally 
adopted with success. 

With such preparations, let us see how all this sci- 
ence and seamanship and engineering are applied. 
The ships are now all together in the middle of the 



352 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

Atlantic. The first point is achieved. They have 
found the place where the broken cable lies — they 
have laid their hands on the bottom of the ocean and 
"felt of it," and know that it is there. The next 
thing is to draw a line over it, to mark its course, for 
in fogs and dark nights it cannot be traced by obser- 
vations. The watery line is therefore marked by a 
series of buoys a few miles apart, which are held in 
position by heavy mushroom-anchors, let down to the 
bottom by a huge buoy-rope, which is fastened at the 
top by a heavy chain. Each buoy is numbered, and 
has on the top a long staff with a flag, and a black 
ball over it, which can be seen at a distance. Thus 
the ships, ranging around in a circuit of many miles, 
can keep in sight this chain of sentinels. The buoy 
which marks the spot where they wish to grapple has 
also a lantern placed upon it at night, which gleams 
afar upon the ocean. Having thus fixed their bear- 
ings, the Great Eastern stands off, north or south 
according to the wind or current, three or four miles 
from where the cable lies, and then, casting over the 
grapnel, drifts slowly down upon the line, as ships 
going into action reef their sails, and drift under the 
enemy's gun&. 

The " fishing-tackle " is on a gigantic scale. The 
" hooks," or grapnels, are huge weapons armed with 
teeth, like Titanic harpoons to be plunged into this 
submarine monster. The " fishing-line " is a rope six 



RECOVERY OF THE LOST CABLE. 353 

and a half inches round, and made of twisted hemp 
and iron, consisting of forty-nine galvanized wires, 
each bound with manilla, the whole capable of bearing 
a strain of thirty tons. Of this heavy rope there are 
tw T enty miles on board the ships, the Albany carrying 
five, and the Great Eastern and the Medway seven 
and a half miles each. Of course it is not the easiest 
thing in the world to handle such a rope. But it is 
paid out by machinery, passing over a drum ; and the 
engine works so smoothly, that it runs out as easily as 
ever a fisherman's line was reeled off into the sea. As 
it goes out freely, the strain increases every moment. 
The rope is so ponderous, that the weight mounts up 
very fast, so that by the time it is two thousand fath- 
oms down, the strain is equal to six or seven tons. 
The tension of course is very great, and not unattended 
with danger. "What if the rope should break? If it 
should snap on board, it would go into the sea like a 
cannon-shot. Such w r as the tension on the long line, 
that once when the splice between the grapnel-rope 
and the buoy-rope " drew," the end passed along the 
wheels with terrific velocity, and flying in the air over 
the bow, plunged into the sea. But the rope is well 
made, and holds firmly an enormous weight. It takes 
about two hours for the grapnel to reach the bottom, 
but they can tell when it strikes. The strain eases up, 
and then, as the ship drifts, it is easy to see that it is 
not dragging through the water, but over the ground, 



354 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

" I often went to the bow," says Mr. Field, " and sat 
on the rope, and could tell by the quiver that the grap- 
nel was dragging on the bottom two miles under us." 

And thus, with its fishing line set, the great ship 
moves slowly down over where the cable lies. As the 
grapnel drags on the bottom, one of the engineer's staff 
stands at the dynamometer to watch for the moment 
of increasing strain. A few hours pass, and the index 
rises to eight, ten, or twelve tons, sure token that there 
is something at the end of the line — it may be the lost 
cable, or a sunken mast or spar, the fragment of a 
wreck that went down in a storm that swept the 
Atlantic a hundred years ago. And now the engine 
is set in motion to haul in. As the rope comes up, it 
passes over a five-foot drum, every revolution bringing 
up three fathoms. Thus it takes some hours to haul in 
over two miles' length, perhaps at last to find nothing 
at the end ! 

Success in hooking the cable depends on the accu- 
racy of their observations. These were sometimes 
verified in a remarkable manner. When the nights 
were very dark and thick with fog, so that they could 
not see the stars above nor their lights on the ocean, 
they had to go almost by the sense of feeling. Yet so 
exactly had they taken their bearings, that they could 
almost grope over the ground with their hands. A 
singular proof of this was given one night, when, just 
as the line began to quiver, showing that the cable had 



RECOVERY OF THE LOST CABLE. 355 

been hooked, one of the buoys — which had not been 
seen in the darkness — thumped against the side of the 
ship. So exactly had it been placed over the pre- 
scribed line, that the ship struck the buoy just as the 
grapnel struck the cable ! The accident, which star- 
tled them at first, when it occurred in the gloom of 
night, furnished the strongest proof of the accuracy 
of their observations ; and the officers were very proud 
of it, as they well might be, as a victory in nautical 
astronomy ! 

These different experiments revealed some secrets of 
the ocean. Its bottom proved to be generally ooze, a 
soft slime. When the rope went down, one or two 
hundred fathoms at the end would trail on the sea 
floor ; and when it came up, this was found coated 
with mud, " very fine and soft like putty, and full of 
minute shells." But it was not all ooze at the bottom 
of the sea, even on this telegraphic plateau. There 
were hidden rocks — perhaps not cliffs and ledges, but 
at least scattered boulders, lying on that mighty plain. 
Sometimes the strain on the dynamometer would sud- 
denly go up three or four tons, and then back again, as 
if the grapnel had been caught and broken away. 
Once it came up with two of its hooks bent, as if it had 
come in contact with a huge rock. At one time it 
brought up in the mud a small stone half the size of an 
almond ; and at another a fragment as large as a 
Jbrick. This was a piece of granite. 



356 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

Friday, August 17th, was a memorable day in the 
expedition, for the cable was not only caught, but 
brought to the surface, where it was in full sight of the 
whole ship, and yet finally escaped. The day before 
the line had been cast over, at about two o'clock,, and 
struck the ground a little before five. After dragging 
a couple of hours, the increasing strain showed that 
they had grappled the prize, and they began to haul 
in, but soon ceased, and held on till morning. Then 
the engine was set in motion again, and slowly but 
steadily the ponderous rope came up from the deep. 
By half-past ten o'clock, Friday morning, twenty-three 
hundred fathoms had come on board, and but fifteen 
or twenty remained. Then was the critical moment, 
and they paused before giving a last pull. Such was 
the eagerness of all, that the diver of the ship, Clark, 
begged to be allowed to plunge down twenty fathoms, 
to lay his hand on the prize, and be sure that it was 
there. But patience yet a few minutes ! A few more 
strokes of the engine, and the sea-serpent shows him- 
self — a long black snake with a white belly. " On the 
appearance of the cable," says Deane, in his Diary of 
the Expedition, " we were all struck with the fact that 
one * half of it was covered with ooze, staining it a 
muddy white, while the other half was in just the state 
in which it left the tank, with its tarred surface and 
strands unchanged, which showed that it lay in the 
sand only half embedded. The strain on the cable 



RECOVERY OP THE LOST CABLE. 35? 

gave it a twist, and it looked as if it had been painted 
spirally black and white. This disposes of the oft- 
repeated assertion, that we should not be able to pull 
it up from the bottom, because it would be embedded 
in the ooze." 

The appearance of the cable woke a tremendous 
hurrah from all on board. They cheered as English 
sailors are apt to cheer when the flag of an enemy is 
struck in battle. But their exultation came too soon. 
The strain on the cable was already mounting up to a 
dangerous point. Capt. Anderson and Mr. Canning 
were standing on the bow, and saw that the strands 
were going. They hastened men to its relief, but it 
was too late. Before they could put stoppers on it to 
hold it, it broke close to the grapnel, and sunk to the 
bottom. It had been in sight but just five minutes, 
and was gone. Instantly the feeling of exultation was 
turned to one of disappointment, and almost of rage, 
at the treacherous monster, that lifted up its snaky 
head from the sea, as if to mock its captors, and in- 
stantly dived to the silence and darkness below. 

It was a cruel disappointment. Yet when they came 
to think soberly, there was no cause for despair, but 
rather for new confidence and hope. They had proved 
what they could do. But this detained them in the 
middle of the Atlantic for two weeks more. 

It were idle to relate all the attempts of those two 
weeks. Every day brought its excitement. Whenever 



358 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

the grapnel caught, there was a suspense of many hours 
till it was brought on board. Several times they 
seemed on the point of success. Two days after that 
fatal Friday, on Sunday, August 19th, they caught the 
cable again, and brought it up within a thousand 
fathoms of the ship, and buoyed it. But Monday and 
Tuesday were too rough for work, and all their labor 
was in vain. Thus it was a constant battle with the 
elements. Sometimes the wind blew fiercely and drove 
them off their course. Sometimes the buoys broke 
adrift and had, to be pursued and taken. Once or twice 
the boatswain's mate — a brave fellow, by the name of 
Thornton — was lowered in ropes over the bow of the 
ship and let down astride of a buoy ; and though it 
spun round with him like a top, and his life was in 
danger, he held on and fastened a chain to it, by which 
it was swung on board. 

The continued bad weather was the chief obstacle 
to success. Engineers had often grappled for cables in 
the North Sea and the Mediterranean ; but there they 
could look for at least a few days when the sea would 
be at rest ; but in the Atlantic it was impossible to 
calculate on good weather for twenty-four hours. For 
nearly four weeks that they were at sea, they had 
hardly four days of clear sunshine, without wind. 
Often the ocean was covered with a driving mist, and 
the ships, groping about like blind giants, kept blowing 
their shrill fog-trumpets, or firing guns, as signals to 



RECOVERY OF THE LOST CABLE. 359 

their companions that they were still there. Occa- 
sionally the sun shone out from the clouds, and gave 
them hope of better success. Once or twice we find in 
the private journal kept by Mr. Field, that it was " too 
calm ; " there was not wind enough to drift the ship 
over the cable, so that the rope hung up and down 
from the bow, without dragging. One Sunday night 
he remembered, when the deep was hushed to a Sab- 
bath stillness, the moon was shining brightly, and the 
ships floating over a " sea of glass," that suggested 
thoughts of a better world than this. Such times gave 
them fresh hopes, that might be disappointed on the 
morrow. 

Once, however, the Albany, which had been off a 
few miles fishing on its own hook, suddenly appeared 
in the night, reporting a victory. All on board the 
Great Eastern were startled by the firing of guns. It 
was a little after midnight, and Mr. Field had gone 
below, worn out with the long suspense and anxiety, 
when Captain Anderson came rushing to his state- 
room with tidings that the cable was recovered ! Both 
hurried on deck, and sure enough there w x as the Albany 
bearing down upon them, w T ith her crew cheering in 
the wildest manner. The gallant Temple had con- 
quered at last. But the next morning brought a fresh 
disappointment. They had indeed got hold of the 
cable, and brought its end on board, and afterward 
buoyed it, but when the Great Eastern went for it, it 



360 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

proved to be only a fragment some two miles long, 
which had been broken off in one of the previous grap- 
plings. However, they hauled it in, and kept it with 
pride, as their first trophy from the sea. 

And so the days and weeks wore on ; it was near 
the end of August, and still the prize was not taken. 
The courage of the men did not fail, but they were 
becoming worn out. The tension on their nerves of 
this long suspense was terrible. On Tuesday, August 
28th, Mr. Temple was brought on board from the 
Albany, very ill. He was worn out with constant 
watching. Their resources, too, must in time be ex- 
hausted. On the evening of the 29th, Captain Com- 
merill, of the Terrible, came on board, and reported 
the condition of his ship. He was one of the very 
best officers in the fleet, full of zeal, courage, and 
activity (having a good right hand in his first offi- 
cer, Mr. Curtis), and always kept up a brave heart, 
even in the darkest days.* But his supplies were nearly 

* Captain Anderson, in a letter published after the return to Eng- 
land, says : " Every officer and man of the expedition will have pleasant 
recollection of the cheerful zeal of Captain Commerill, V.C., and the 
officers of Her Majesty's ship Terrible. Captain Commerill frequently 
visited us in his boats, both in high seas and in calms, and his cheery 
way of saying, ' You'll do it yet,' ' What can I do ? ' and ' I'll do it,' was 
truly characteristic of him. The officers of the Terrible would do any 
thing for their captain, and entered heartily into the object of the 
voyage." 

Such a tribute from one brave commander to another, is most honor- 
able to both. In the same letter he recognizes, also, the services ren- 



RECOVERY OE THE LOST CABLE. 361 

exhausted. He had been out four weeks, and his coal 
was almost gone, and his men were on half rations. So 
he must leave the fishing ground for fresh supplies. It 
was a painful necessity. He mourned his fate, like a 
brave officer who is ordered away in the midst of a 
battle. But he submitted only with a determination 
to take in ammunition, and to come back in a few days 
to renew the struggle. Accordingly the Terrible left 
the same evening for St. John's. 

At the same time it was decided that the three other 
ships should leave their present cruising ground, and 
try a new spot. As an old fisherman, who has cast his 
line in one place so often as to scare the fish away, 
sometimes has better luck in other waters, so they pro- 

dered by the captains of the other ships : " I shall do but scant justice 
to Commanders Prowse and Batt, R.N., and Captains Eddington and 
Harris, Mercantile Marine, of the Medway and Albany, if I recallthe 
three weeks spent upon the ' grappling ground,' where we were often 
separated by fog, gale, or darkness ; yet whenever day dawned, or the 
fog cleared, there the squadron were to be seen, converging from differ- 
ent points towards the Mark Buoy, a small spot looking no bigger 
than a man's hat on the surface of the ocean. Unless all had con- 
centrated their minds, and watched their ships and compasses night 
and day, no such beautiful illustration of nautical science could have 
been possible. The vessels of the squadron keeping always together, 
and commanded by men who knew the importance of keeping close 
enough to begin work whenever it was possible, and yet to avoid col- 
lision in fog, was of the greatest importance ; and we owe much to 
that invaluable system of signalling by night and day, invented by 
Captain Colomb, R.N., which enabled us, even in dark nights, when 
two, or three miles apart, to communicate or ascertain anything we 
desired." 



362 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

posed to go east a hundred miles, to a place where the 
ocean was not quite so deep. Deane, in his Diary, calls 
it " the sixteen hundred fathom patch," but they found 
it nineteen hundred fathoms, or about two miles ! So 
the next morning the Great Eastern, the Med way, and 
the Albany "pulled up stakes," that is, took in their 
buoys, and bore away to the east. In a few hours 
they reached the appointed rendezvous, and had set 
their buoys. The last day of August had come, and 
all seemed favorable for a final attempt. It was a 
clear day, with no wind. The sea had gone down, so 
that at noon it was a dead calm, as the three ships took 
their position in line, about two miles apart, ready to 
open their broadsides at once. The grapnel went over 
for the thirtieth time. Kind heaven favored its search, 
and at ten minutes before midnight it had found the 
cable, and fastened its teeth never to let go. Feeling 
something at the end of the rope, they began to haul 
in, but slowly at first, as an expert angler decoys a big 
fish by pulling gently on the line. Watching the dy- 
namometer, they saw with delight the strain increase 
with every hundred fathoms. Up it went to eight, 
nine, ten tons ! They had caught it, and no mistake. 
In about five hours they had drawn it up to within a 
thousand fathoms of the top of the water, where it 
hung suspended from the ship. But now came the 
critical point, for as it approached the surface the dan- 
ger of breaking increased every moment. It required 



RECOVERY OF THE LOST CABLE. 363 

delicate handling. To make sure this time, the Great 
Eastern buoyed the cable, and moved off two or three 
miles to take a fresh grip in a new place; and hav- 
ing got a double hold, the Med way, which was two 
miles further to the west, was ordered to grapple for 
it also ; and having caught it, to heave up with all 
force, till she should bring it on board or break it. 
This was done, and the old cable brought up within 
three hundred fathoms, and there broken. This at 
once lightened the strain and gave them an end to pull 
upon, whereupon the Great Eastern, having a lighter 
weight on the rope, drew up again, but still gently, 
watching the strain, lest the cable should break. 
These operations were very slow, and lasted many weary 
hours. It was a little before midnight on Friday night 
that the cable was caught, and it was after midnight 
Sunday morning that it was brought on board. How 
long that day seemed ! Night turned to morning, and 
morning to noon, and noon to night again, and still the 
work was not done ; still the great ship hung over the 
spot where its treasure was suspended in the deep. 
The sun went down, and the moon looked forth from 
driving clouds upon a scene such as the ocean never 
saw before. At a distance could be discerned the 
black hulls of the attendant ships, the Albany and the 
Meclway. But wiry were they thus silent and motion- 
less in the midst of the sea ? Some mysterious errand 
brought them here, and as their boats approached with 



364 STORY OP THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

measured sweep, at this midnight hour, it seemed as if 
they came with muffled oars to an ocean burial. It 
was still calm, but the sea began to moan with unrest, 
as if troubled in its sleep. As midnight drew on, the 
interest gathered about the bows of the Great Eastern. 
The bulwarks were crowded with anxious watchers, 
peering into the darkness below. Still not a word was 
spoken. Not a voice was heard, save that of Captain 
Anderson, or Mr. Halpin, or Mr. Canning, giving 
orders. As it approached the surface, two men, who 
were tried hands, were lashed with ropes and lowered 
over the bows, to make fast to the cable when it should 
appear. This was a perilous service, and the boats 
were there to pick up the brave fellows, if they should 
drop into the water. As soon as it showed itself, they 
dived upon it, and seizing it with their hands, fastened 
it with large hempen stoppers, which were quickly at- 
tached to five-inch ropes. 

' ' It was then found, that the bight was so firmly caught 
in the springs of the grapnel, that one of the brave hands 
who put on the stoppers, was sent lower down to the grapnel, 
and with hammer and marlinspike, the rope was ultimately 
freed from the tenacious gripe of the fiukes. The signal be- 
ing given to haul up, the western end of the bight was cut 
with a saw, and grandly and majestically the cable rose up 
the frowning bows of the Great Eastern, slowly passing 
round the sheave at the bow, and then over the wheels on 
to the fore part of the deck. The greatest possible care had 
to be taken bv Mr. Canning and his assistants, to secure the 






RECOVERY OF THE LOST CABLE. 365 

cable by putting on stoppers, and to watch the progress of 
the grapnel, rope, and shackles, round the drum, before it 
received the cable itself." 

When once it was made fast, all took a long breath. 
The cable was recovered. They had the sea-serpent 
at last. There the monster lay, its neck firmly in their 
gripe, and its black head lying on the deck. But even 
then there was no cheering, as when they caught it 
two weeks before. ]\Ien are sometimes stunned by a 
sudden success, and hardly know if it be not all a 
dream. So now they looked at the cable with eager 
eyes, but without a word, and some crept toward it to 
take it in their hands, to be sure that they were not 
deceived. Yes — it was the same that they paid out into 
the sea thirteen months before ! 

But their anxiety was not over. Jsow that they had 
regained the lost cable of 1S65, was it good for any 
thing ? It had been lying more than a year at the bot- 
tom of the deep. What if it should prove to have been 
broken somewhere in the eleven hundred miles between 
the ship and Ireland ? What if some sharp rock had 
worn it away, or some marine insect had eaten into its 
heart ? If there were but a pin's point, anywhere in 
its covering of flesh, the vital current might escape 
through it into the sea. Fears like these restrained 
their exultation. It was yet too soon to proclaim their 
victory. So, as the cable was passed along the deck 
to the testing room, where the chief electrician was to 



366 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

operate upon it, to see whether it was alive or dead, it 
was followed by an anxious group, w T ho stood around 
him as he sat down at the instrument, watching his 
countenance as friends watch the face of a physician, 
when he feels the pulse of a patient to see if the heart 
is still beating. The scene is thus described by Mr. 
Robert Dudley, the artist of the expedition, whose 
spirited sketches in the London Illustrated News have 
made known to the world many incidents of this 
memorable voyage : 

1 ' I made my way with others, in accordance with an invi- 
tation from Willoughby Smith, to the electricians' room. 
Here, after another hour's preparation, during which time 
the cable had been carefully passed round the drums of the 
picking-up machinery, and a sufficient length drawn in on 
board, the severed end was received. And now, in their 
mysterious, darkened haunt, the wizards are ready to work 
their spells upon the tamed lightning. Not ' unholy spells ' 
are these, or secret ; for, though the wizards' den is but of 
limited dimensions, they have not been averse to the pres- 
ence of a few visitors. Mr. Grooch is looking on ; Professor 
Thomson, be sure, is here, a worthy ' Wizard of the North ; ' 
Cyrus Field could no more be absent than the cable itself ; I 
think, too, Canning, hard at work as he is forward in the 
ship, must have dropped in just for a moment; Clifford, 
Laws, Captain Hamilton, Deane, Dudley — all have, in their 
several ways, a great interest in every movement of Wil- 
loughby Smith and his brother (and able assistant) Oliver ; 
and, when the core of the cable is stripped and the heart 
itself— the conducting wire— fixed in the instrument, and 



RECOVERY OF THE LOST CABLE. 367 

these two electricians bend over the galvanometer in patient 
watching for some message from that far-off land of home 
to which the great news has just been signalled, then the 
accustomed stillness of the test-room is deepened; the tickiag 
of the chronometer becomes monotonous. Nearly a quarter 
of an hour has passed, and still no sign ! Suddenly Wil- 
loughby Smith's hat is off, and the British hurrah bursts 
from his lips, echoed by all on board with a volley of cheers, 
evidently none the worse for having been ' bottled up ' dur- 
ing the last three hours. Along the deck outside, over the 
ship, throughout the ship, the pent-up enthusiasm over- 
flowed; and even before the test-room was cleared, the roar- 
ing bravos of our guns drowned the huzzas of the crew, and 
the whiz of rockets was heard rushing high into the clear 
morning sky to greet our consort-ships with the glad intelli- 
gence." 

While this scene is going on on board ship, we may 
turn to the other end of the line. It may be well 
supposed that the result of this attempt was watched 
with deep interest at Valentia. How they looked for 
the first signal from the deep, and how the tidings 
came, is thus told in the London Spectator : 

y l ' Night and day, for a whole year, an electrician has always 
been on duty, watching the tiny ray of light through which 
signals are given, and twice every day the whole length of 
wire — one thousand two hundred and forty miles — has been 
tested for conductivity and insulation. . . . The object of 
observing the ray of light was of course not any expectation 
of a message, but simply to keep an accurate record of the 
condition of the wire. Sometimes, indeed, wild, incoherent 



368 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

messages from the deep did come, but these were merely 
the results of magnetic storms and earth-currents, which 
deflected the galvanometer rapidly, and spelt the most extra- 
ordinary ivords, and sometimes even sentences of nonsense. 
Suddenly, last Sunday morning, at a quarter to six o'clock, 
while the light was being watched by Mr. May,* he observed 
a peculiar indication about it, which showed at once to his 
experienced eye that a message was at hand. In a few 
minutes afterward the unsteady nickering was changed to 
coherency, if we may use such a term, and at once the cable 
began to speak, to transmit, that is, at regular intervals, the 
appointed signals which indicated human purpose and 
method at the other end, instead of the hurried signs, 
broken speech, and inarticulate cries of the illiterate At- 
lantic. After the long interval in which it had brought us 
nothing but the moody and often delirious mutterings of the 
sea, stammering over its alphabet in vain, the words ' Can- 
ning to Glass ' must have seemed like the first rational 
word uttered by a high-fevered patient, when the ravings 
have ceased and his consciousness returns." 

The telegraphic fleet remained together but a few 
hours after this recovery of the lost cable. The battle 
was gained, and the three ships were no longer needed. 
The Albany, therefore, parted company to pick up the 
buoys, and at once sailed for England, while the Great 
Eastern, attended by the faithful Medway, turned to 
the west. It was about nine o'clock that the ship 

* This is an error. Mr. Crocker, an operator in the Telegraph House 
at Valentia, was the fortunate one on watch at that hour, on whose eye 
the first ray fell, as a spark of life from the dead. 



RECOVERY OF THE LOST CABLE. 369 

began to pay out the cable. Up to that time it had 
continued calm, but the morning was raw and chill, and 
the sea began to rise as if in anger at those who had 
torn from it its prey. Captain Anderson looked anx- 
iously at the signs of the coming storm. It seemed 
as if Heaven had kept back the winds during the crit- 
ical day and night when they were lifting the cable ! 
But now the tempest was upon them, and for thirty- 
six hours it swept the ocean. All trembled lest they 
should not be able to hold on. But little incidents 
sometimes turn the current of one's thoughts, and give 
a feeling of peace even in the midst of anxiety. Says 
Mr. Field : 

"In the very height and fury of the gale, as I sat in 
the electrician's room, a flash of light came up from the 
deep, which having crossed to Ireland, came back to me 
in mid-ocean, telling that those so dear to me, whom I had 
left on the banks of the Hudson, were well, and following 
us with their wishes and their prayers. This was like a 
whisper of God from the sea, bidding me keep heart and 
hope. The Great Eastern bore herself proudly through the 
storm, as if she knew that the vital cord which was to join 
two hemispheres, hung at her stern ; and so on Saturday, the 
seventh of September, we brought our second cable safely to 
the shore." 

The scene at Heart's Content, when the fleet 

appeared the second time, was one that beggars 

description. Its arrival was not unexpected, for the 

success on Sunday morning, that had been telegraphed 

24 



370 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

to Ireland, was at once flashed across the Atlantic, and 
the people were watching for its coming. As the ships 
came up the harbor it was covered with boats, and all 
were wild with excitement ; and when the big shore-end 
was got out of the Med way, and dragged to land, the 
sailors hugged it and almost kissed it in their extrava- 
gance of joy ; and no sooner was it safely landed 
than they seized Mr. Field, Mr. Canning, and Mr. 
Clifford in their arms, and raised them over their 
heads, while the crow r d cheered with tumultuous en- 
thusiasm. 

The voyage of the Great Eastern was ended. Twice 
had she been victorious over the sea ; tw 7 ice had she laid 
the spoils of victory on the shores of the New World, 
and her mission was accomplished. All on board, who 
had been detained weeks beyond the expected time, were 
impatient to return ; and accordingly she prepared 
to sail the very next day on her homeward voyage. 
The Medway, which had on board the cable for the 
Gulf of St. Lawrence, remained two or three weeks 
longer, and with the Terrible, whose gallant officers had 
volunteered for the service, successfully accomplished 
that work. But the Great Eastern was bound for 
England, and Mr. Field had now to part from his 
friends on board. It was a trying moment. Rejoiced 
as he was at the successful termination of the voyage, 
yet when he came to leave the ship, where he had 
spent so many anxious days and weeks, both this year 



RECOVERY OF THE LOST CABLE. 371 

and the year before ; and to part from men to whom 
he was bound by the strong ties that unite those 
embarked in a common enterprise — brave companions 
in arms — he could not repress a feeling of sadness. It 
was with deep emotion that Captain Anderson took him 
by the hand, as he said, " The time is come that we 
must part." As he went over the side of the ship, 
the commander cried, " Give him three cheers ! " "And 
now three more for his family ! " The ringing hurrahs 
of that gallant crew were the last sounds he heard as 
he sunk back in the boat that took him to the Med way, 
while the wheels of the Great Eastern began to move, 
and the noble ship, with her noble company, bore 
away for England. 

Our story is toid. We have followed the history of 
the Atlantic Telegraph from the beginning to the 
end ; from the hour that the idea first occurred to its 
projector, turning over the globe in his librar}^, till 
the cable was stretched from continent to continent. 
Between these two points of time many years have 
passed, and many struggles intervened. Never did 
an enterprise pass through more vicissitudes ; never 
was courage tried by more reverses and disappoint- 
ments, the constant repetition of which gives to this 
narrative an almost painful interest. Yet that back- 
ground of disaster only sets in brighter relief the spirit 
that bore up under all, the faith that never despaired, 
and the patience that was never weary. It was a 



372 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

pathetic as well as heroic story which Mr. Field had 
to tell when it was all over. He said : 

1 ' It has been a long, hard struggle. Nearly thirteen 
years of anxious watching and ceaseless toil. Often my 
heart has been ready to sink. Many times, when wander- 
ing in the forests of Newfoundland, in the pelting rain, or 
on the deck of ships, on dark, stormy nights — alone, far 
from home — I have almost accused myself of madness and 
folly to sacrifice the peace of my family, and all the hopes of 
life, for what might prove after all but a dream. I have 
seen my companions one and another falling by my side, 
and feared that I too might not live to see the end. And yet 
one hope has led me on, and I have prayed that I might 
not taste of death till this work was accomplished. That 
prayer is answered ; and now, beyond all acknowledgments 
to men, is the feeling of gratitude to Almighty God." * 

" Long and hard " indeed had been the way, but in 
the end what a triumph was gained : an achievement 
that was one of the most marvellous in all history, as 
a proof of man's dominion over the forces of nature. 
When it was first proposed to span the Atlantic, it 
seemed but a beautiful dream, fascinating indeed to 
the imagination, but beyond all human power: and 
men listened to the picture of what might be with de- 
lighted amazement and wondering incredulity. In an 
oration at the opening of the Dudley Observatory at 
Albany, in 1857, Edward Everett spoke thus of the 
projected Atlantic Telegraph : 

* Speech at the Chamber of Commerce Dinner, Nov. 15, 1866. 



RECOVERY OF THE LOST CABLE. 373 

1 ' I hold in my hand a portion of the identical electrical 
cable, given me by my friend Mr. Peabody, which is now in 
progress of manufacture to connect America with Europe. 
Does it seem all but incredible to you that intelligence 
should travel for two thousand miles, along those slender 
copper wires, far down in the all but fathomless Atlantic, 
never before penetrated by aught pertaining to humanity, 
save when some foundering vessel has plunged with her 
hapless company to the eternal silence and darkness of the 
abyss ? Does it seem, I say, all but a miracle of art, that 
the thoughts of living men — the thoughts that we think up 
here on the earth's surface, in the cheerful light of day — 
about the markets and the exchanges, and the seasons, and 
the elections, and the treaties, and the wars, and all the fond 
nothings of daily life, should clothe themselves with elemen- 
tal sparks, and shoot with fiery speed, in a moment, in the 
twinkling of an eye, from hemisphere to hemisphere, far 
down among the uncouth monsters that wallow in the 
nether seas, along the wreck-paved floor, through the oozy 
dungeons of the ray less deep ; that the latest intelligence of 
the crops, whose dancing tassels will, in a few months, be 
coquetting with the west wind on those boundless prairies, 
should go flashing along the slimy decks of old sunken 
galleons, which have been rotting for ages ; that messages 
of friendship and love, from warm, living bosoms, should 
burn over the cold, green bones of men and women, whose 
hearts, once as warm as ours, burst as the eternal gulfs 
closed and roared over them centuries ago ! " 

But a few years passed, and the vision became a 
reality. The heart of the world beat under the sea. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



THE AFTERGLOW. 



It is the clear shining after rain. The storms that 
swept the sea, have blown themselves out, and all is 
tranquil on the face of the deep. The cable is lying 
in its ocean bed uniting the two hemispheres, never- 
more to be separated. And now comes the public 
recognition on both sides the Atlantic, though in dif- 

© " © 

ferent form. The event had produced a profound 
impression throughout the civilized world. Yet it was 
a singular illustration of the changes in public inter- 
est, that, whereas in 1858 a temporary success had 
kindled the wildest enthusiasm in the United States, 

while in England it was regarded almost with indiffer- 

© © 

ence, now the state of feeling in the two countries was 
completely reversed. In Great Britain it was the 
theme of boundless congratulation, while in America 
the public mind — dulled perhaps by the excitements 
of four years of war — received the news with com- 
posure. The reason was, in part, that England had 
had a larger share in the later than in the earlier expe- 
ditions. Certainly none could deny the inestimable 
services rendered by her men of science, her seamen, 



THE AFTERGLOW. 375 

her engineers, and her great capitalists; and it was 
most fit that the country which they had honored 
should do them honor in its turn. Scarcely had the 
Great Eastern recrossed the sea before those to whom 
the empire ow r ed so much, w^ere duly recognized in the 
following letter from the Earl of Derby, then Prime 
Minister, addressed to Sir Stafford Northcote, who was 
to preside at a dinner given in Liverpool, to celebrate 
the great achievement : 

Ci Balmoral, Saturday, Sept. 29, 1866. 
" Dear Sir Stafford : As I understand you are to have 
the honor of taking the chair at the entertainment which is 
to be given on Monday next, in Liverpool, to celebrate the 
double success which has attended the great undertaking of 
laying the cable of 1866, and recovering that of 1865, by 
which the two continents of Europe and America are hap- 
pily connected, I am commanded by the Queen to make 
known to you, and through you to those over whom you 
are to preside, the deep interest with which Her Majesty has 
regarded the progress of this noble work ; and to tender 
Her Majesty's cordial congratulations to all of those w T hose 
energy and perseverance, whose skill and science have 
triumphed over all difficulties, and accomplished a success 
alike honorable to themselves and to their country, and 
beneficial to the world at large. Her Majesty, desirous of 
testifying her sense of the various merits which have been 
displayed in this, great enterprise, has commanded me to 
submit to her, for special marks of her royal favor, the 
names of those who, having had assigned to them prominent 
positions, may be considered as representing the different 



376 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

departments, whose united labors have contributed to the 
final result ; and Her Majesty has accordingly been pleased 
to direct that the honor of knighthood should be conferred 
upon Captain Anderson, the able and zealous commander of 
the Great Eastern ; Professor Thomson, whose distinguished 
science has been brought to bear with eminent success upon 
the improvement of submarine telegraphy ; and on Messrs. 
Glass and Canning, the manager and engineer respectively 
of the Telegraph Maintenance Company, whose skill and 
experience have mainly contributed to the admirable con- 
struction and successful laying of the cable. Her Majesty 
is further pleased to mark her approval of the public spirit 
and energy of the two companies who have had successively 
the conduct of the undertaking, by offering the dignity of a 
baronetcy of the United Kingdom to Mr. Lampson, the 
Deputy Chairman of the original company, to whose reso- 
lute support of the project in spite of all discouragements it 
was in a great measure owing that it was not at one time 
abandoned in despair ; and to Mr. Gooch, M.P., the Chair- 
man of the company which has finally completed the de- 
sign. If among the names thus submitted to and approved 
by Her Majesty, that of Mr. Cyrus Field does not appear, 
the omission must not be attributed to any disregard of the 
eminent services which, from the first, he has rendered to 
the cause of transatlantic telegraphy, and the zeal and reso- 
lution with which he has adhered to the prosecution of his 
object, but to an apprehension lest it might appear to 
encroach on the province of his own Government, if Her 
Majesty were advised to offer a citizen of the United States, 
for a service rendered alike to both countries, British marks 
of honor, which, following the example of another highly 
distinguished citizen, he might feel himself unable to accept." 



THE AFTERGLOW. 377 

The reason assigned by Lord Derby for the omission 
of Mr. Field's name in the distribution of honors, was 
perfectly understood and entirely satisfactory. The 
British Government had once before offered a baron- 
etcy to Mr. George Peabody in recognition of his 
princely benefactions to the poor of London, but while 
he appreciated the honor, he felt that as a citizen of 
the United States, he could not accept it, and the same 
reason would apply in the present case. But while 
this alone prevented official recognition, it could not 
prevent the hearty expression of Englishmen who 
knew the history of the great enterprise from the be- 
ginning. At this very dinner, the Chairman gave, as 
the first toast, " The Original Projectors of the Atlan- 
tic Cable," which he proposed early in order to give 
Mr. Cyrus Field (who was very near to them, although 
he happened to be in America !). a chance of respond- 
ing ! The allusion is explained by the remark of one 
present who had said : — 

' ' You will be pleased to hear that Mr. Bright has kindly 
brought the telegraph wire into the room in which we are 
sitting, and no sooner will the toast involving the mention 
of Mr. Field's name be given from the chair, than it will be 
flashed with lightning speed to Valentia, thence to New- 
foundland, and if Mr. Field is at home, it is quite possible 
that he himself will receive it, ere the echo of your ringing 
cheers has died away in Liverpool." 

A message was at once sent from the room to 
Newfoundland, and a reply received back that Mr. 



378 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

Field had left for New York. In continuing his 
speech, Sir Stafford Northcote said: "I think there 
can be no doubt in the minds of those who have care- 
fully examined the history of these transactions, that 
it is to Mr. Cyrus Field that we owe the practical 
carrying out of the idea which has borne such glori- 
ous fruit. I am sure there is none to whom we owe 
more, or whose, name stands in prouder connection 
with this great undertaking, than the name of Mr. 
Cyrus Field." 

He called upon Sir Charles Bright to reply, who de- 
tailed somewhat the history of the enterprise from the 
very beginning in 1856, when "Mr. Cyrus Field, to 
whom the world was more indebted than to any other 
person for the establishment of the line, came to Eng- 
land upon the completion of the telegraph between 
Nova Scotia and Newfoundland." 

To the same effect is the testimony of a distin- 
guished writer, "W. H. Eussell, LL.D., who was on board 
of the Great Eastern in 1865, as the correspondent of 
The Times, and wrote a very graphic History of the 
Expedition (p. 10) : 

4 'It has been said that the greatest boons conferred on 
mankind, have been due to men of one idea. If the laying 
of the Atlantic cable be among those benefits, its consumma- 
tion may certainly be attributed to the man who, having 
many ideas, devoted himself to work out one idea, with a 
gentle force and patient vigor which converted opposition and 



THE AFTERGLOW. 379 

overcame indifference. Mr. Field may be likened either to 
the core, or the external protection, of the cable itself. At 
times he has been its active life ; again he has been its iron- 
bound guardian. Let who will claim the merit of having 
first said the Atlantic cable was possible ; to Mr. Field is due 
the inalienable merit of having made it possible, . and of giv- 
ing to an abortive conception all the attributes of healthy 
existence." 

Sir "William Thomson, on the final triumph, wrote : 

" My dear Field, I cannot refrain from putting down in 
black and white my hearty congratulations on your great suc- 
cess. Few know better than I do how well you deserve it." 

Eight months after he wrote from Scotland : 

" I am sorry I had not an opportunity of saying in public 
how much I value your energy and perseverance in carrying 
through the great enterprise, and how clearly you stand out 
in its history as its originator and its mainspring from begin- 
ning to end." 

Next to Sir William Thomson was Mr. Co F. Varley, 
who was associated in the work from an early day, and 
did much to solve the difficult problems of ocean teleg- 
raphy, and who wrote to Mr. Field, speaking from his 
personal knowledge : " You did more than any other 
to float the concern, and single-handed saved the whole 
scheme from collapse more than once." 

Captain Sir James Anderson repeated the same con- 
viction in numberless forms. He had seen how the 
presence of Mr. Field in London instantly revived the 
languid enthusiasm of others, and infused his own 



380 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

energy into the enterprise, and declared again and 
again that but for these heroic and incessant efforts the 
whole scheme would have broken down, and been 
delayed for many years. 

Such expressions from English associates in the great 
work might be multiplied to any extent. They are 
much stronger than any language used by the author 
of this volume, who has purposely kept back such testi- 
monies, lest it should seem that he wished to exalt an 
individual, when he sought to do justice to all, on both 
sides of the Atlantic. 

Nor was such recognition confined to England. 
The King of Italy conferred on Mr. Field the cross 
of the order of St. Mauritius, as an acknowledgment 
from the country of Columbus to one who had done 
so much to unite to the Old World that New World 
which Columbus discovered. 

A still higher honor was paid by the Great Expo- 
sition in Paris, in 1867, which, gathering the products 
of the genius and skill and industry of all nations, 
recognized the labors of men of all countries, who, by 
their discoveries or great enterprises, had rendered 
eminent services to the cause of civilization. It awarded 
the Grand Prize, the highest distinction it had to 
bestow, to Mr. Field by name, jointly with the Anglo- 
American and Atlantic Telegraph Companies, thus 
recognizing, as was most due, the splendid exhibition 
of the science and the capital of England, which were 



THE AFTERGLOW. 381 

never more directly employed for the benefit of the 
human race, than in the uniting of the two Hemi- 
pheres, while it gave the first place in the grand design 
to its American leader. 

But to an American no praise is so dear as that 
which comes from his own countrymen. First of all 
to Mr. Field, was that which came from the faithful 
few who had stood by him and witnessed his exertions 
for twelve long years. At the first annual meeting of 
the stockholders of the New York, Newfoundland, and 
London Telegraph Company, the following resolution 
was, on motion of Mr. Moses Taylor, seconded by Mr- 
Wilson G. Hunt, unanimously adopted : 

Whereas, This Company was the first ever formed for the 
establishment of an Atlantic Telegraph ; an enterprise upon 
which it started in the beginning of 1854, at the instance of 
Mr. Cyrus W. Field, and which, through his wise and un- 
wearied energy, acting upon this Company, and others 
afterwards formed in connection with it, has been success- 
fully accomplished : Therefore the stockholders of this Com- 
pany, at this their first meeting since the completion of the 
enterprise, desiring to testify their sense of Mr. Field's ser- 
vices : 

Resolve: First — That to him more than any other man, 
the world is indebted for this magnificent instrument of 
good ; and but for him it would not, in all probability, be 
now in existence ; 

Second— That the thanks of the stockholders of this Com- 
pany are hereby given to Mr. Field for these services, which, 



382 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

though so great in themselves, and so valuable to this Com- 
pany, were rendered without any remuneration ; and 

Third — That a copy of this resolution, certified by the 
Chairman and Secretary of this meeting, be delivered to Mr. 
Field as a recognition, by those who best know, of his just 
right to be always regarded as the first projector, and most 
persistent and efficient promoter, of the Atlantic Telegraph. 

Peter Cooper, Chairman. 

Wilson Gr. Hunt, Secretary. 

To testify the public appreciation of this great 
achievement, and of his part in it, the Chamber of 
Commerce of New York invited Mr. Field to a public 
banquet, which was given on the fifteenth of Novem- 
ber. It was attended by about three hundred gentle- 
men — not only merchants and bankers, but men of 
all professions — lawyers and judges, clergymen and 
presidents of colleges, members of the Government and 
foreign ministers, and officers of the army and navy. 
The President of the Chamber of Commerce, Mr. A. A. 
Low, presided, and, at the close of his opening speech, 
said : 

" We may fairly claim that, from first to last, Cyrus W. 
Field has been more closely identified with the Atlantic Tel- 
egraph than any other living man ; and his name and his 
fame, which the Queen of Great Britain has justly left to the 
care of the American government and people, will be proudly 
cherished and gratefully honored. We are in daily use of 
the fruits of his labors; and it is meet that the men of com- 
merce, of literature and of law, of science and art — of all the 



THE AFTERGLOW. 383 

professions that impart dignity and worth to our nature — 
should come together and give a hearty, joyous, and gener- 
ous welcome to this truly chivalrous son of America. " 

He proposed the health of their guest : 

" Cyrus W. Field, the projector and mainspring of the 
Atlantic Telegraph: while the British government justly 
honors those who have taken part with him in this great 
work of the age, his fame belongs to us, and will be cher- 
ished and guarded by his countrymen." 

In his reply, Mr. Field told the story with the 
utmost simplicity, passing rapidly over the nearly thir- 
teen years, through which the enterprise had struggled 
with such doubtful fortunes, and taking pains to do 
full justice to all who shared in its labors, its disap- 
pointments and its triumphs. Especially did he award 
the highest praise to the government of England for its 
liberal and constant support ; to her men of science 
and her great capitalists, and to the officers of ships, 
electricians and engineers, who had taken part in this 
undertaking. In closing, he said : 

u Of the results of this enterprise — commercially and 
politically — it is for others to speak. To one effect only do I 
refer as the wish of my heart — that, as it brings us into closer 
relations with England, it may produce a better under- 
standing between the two countries. Let who will speak 
against England — words of censure must come from other 
lips than mine. I have received too much kindness from 
Englishmen to join in this language. I have eaten of their 



384 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

bread and drunk of their cup, and I have received from them, 
in the darkest hours of this enterprise, words of cheer which 
I shall never forget ; and if any words of mine can tend to 
peace and good will, they shall not be wanting. I beg my 
countrymen to remember the ties of kindred. Blood is 
thicker than water. America with all her greatness has 
come out of the loins of England ; and though there have 
been sometimes family quarrels — bitter as family quarrels 
are apt to be — still in our hearts there is a yearning for the 
old home, the land of our fathers ; and he is an enemy of his 
country and of the human race, who would stir up strife 
between two nations that are one in race, in language and 
in religion. I close with this sentiment : England and 
America— clasping hands across the sea, may this firm 
grasp be a pledge of friendship to all generations!" 
(To which the whole assembly responded by rising, and by 
prolonged and tumultuous cheers.) 

In the brilliant array of guests was recognized the 
tall form of General Meade, who was loudly called for 
as " tha hero of Gettysburg," to which he replied that 
there was but one hero on this occasion, and he had 
travelled a hundred miles to be there that night to do 
him honor. He said : "I have watched with eager- 
ness the struggle through which he has passed and the 
disasters which attended his early efforts ; and I have 
admired and applauded, from the bottom of my heart, 
the tenacity of purpose with which that man has con- 
tinued to hold on to his original idea, with a firm faith 
to carry to completion one of the greatest works the 
world has ever seen." 



THE AFTERGLOW. 385 

The heartiness of this soldierly reply was echoed 
by the bluff old warrior, Admiral Farragut, who had 
been so often through the smoke and flame of battle, 
that he knew how to appreciate not only common 
courage, but the desperate tenacity which holds on in 
spite of disaster, that has gained many a victory. 

Letters were read from the President of the United 
States, from Chief Justice Chase, from General Grant, 
from Sir Frederick Bruce, the British Minister, from 
Senators Morgan and Sumner, from General Dix, Min- 
ister to France, and others. The Chief Justice of the 
United States wrote : 

"I am very sorry that I cannot leave Washington this 
week, and so cannot avail myself of your kind invitation to 
join you in congratulations to Mr. Field upon the success of 
his grand undertaking. It is the most wonderful achieve- 
ment of civilization ; and to his sagacity, patience, persever- 
ance, courage, and faith, is civilization indebted for it. 

4 'Such works entitle their authors to distinguished rank 
among public benefactors. You will write the name of your 
honored guest high upon that illustrious roll, and there it 
will remain in honor, while oceans divide and telegraphs 
unite mankind." 

There w^as a telegraph instrument in the room, and 
despatches were received during the evening from Mr. 
Seward, Secretary of State, and other members of the 
Cabinet at Washington, from Lord Monck, Governor- 
General of Canada, from the Governor of Newfound- 
land, and others. One, from Captain Sir James 
25 



386 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

Anderson, was dated at London the same day. John 
Bright also wrote a despatch and sent it to London, 
but by an oversight it was not forwarded. He after- 
ward wrote a letter, giving the message. It was as 

follows : 

"It is fitting you should honor the man to whom the 
whole world is debtor. He brought capital and science 
together to do his bidding, and Europe and America are 
forever united. I cannot sit at your table, but I can join in 
doing honor to Cyrus W. Field. My hearty thanks to him 
may mingle with yours/' 

He adds that he regarded what had been done as the 
most marvellous thing in human history ; as more mar- 
vellous than the invention of the art of printing, or, 
he was almost ready to say, than the voyages of the 
Genoese ; and of Mr. Field, he says, u The world does 
not yet know what it owes to him, and this generation 
will never know it." 

About the same time, in a speech at a great Reform 
Meeting in Leeds, he bore this proud testimony : 

"A friend of mine, Cyrus Field, of New York, is the 
Columbus of our time, for after no less than forty voyages 
across the Atlantic, in pursuit of the great aim of his life, he 
has at length, by his cable, moored the New World close 
alongside the Old." 

Nor was this mere rhetoric, a burst of extravagance, 
to which an orator might give way in the excitement 
of a public occasion ; it was a comparison which he 



THE AFTERGLOW. 387 

repeated on many occasions, though slightly varied in 
expression. Mr. G. W. Smalley, the well-known cor- 
respondent of the New York Tribune, in w r riting from 
London, on the very day that Mr. Field was carried to 
his grave, recalls how he heard it from Mr. Bright's 
own lips. He says : 

' ' The great orator spoke of the great American in terms 
which he did not bestow lavishly, and never bestowed care- 
lessly. His respect for Mr. Field's public work was suffi- 
ciently shown in the splendid eulogy which he passed upon 
him. To be called by such a man as Mr. Bright the Colum- 
bus of the Nineteenth Century is renown enough for any 
man. The epithet is imperishable. It is, as Thackeray said 
of a similar tribute to Fieldiug in Gibbon, like having your 
name written on the dome of St. Peter's. The world knows 
it and the world remembers. I heard Mr. Bright use the 
phrase, and he adorned and emphasized it in his noblest 
tones." 

America has no official honors to bestow, no knight- 
hoods or baronetcies to confer. But one honor it has, 
the thanks of Congress, which, like the thanks of Par- 
liament, is the more highly prized in that it is so rarely 
bestowed, being reserved generally for distinguished 
officers in the army or navy, like Generals Grant, 
Sherman or Sheridan, or Admiral Farragut, Avho have 
won great victories. Yet such was the feeling on this 
occasion, that when Senator Morgan, of New York, 
moved a vote of thanks in the name of the country, 
it met with an immediate response. It was at once 



388 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

referred to the Committee on Foreign Belations, which 
reported unanimously in its favor; and when, some 
weeks after, giving time for due deliberation, it was 
brought up for action, it passed with entire unanimity. 
In the House of Representatives it was preceded by 
many bills, so that there was danger that it might not 
be reached before the end of the session, yet on the 
very last day Speaker Colfax requested unanimous 
consent of the House to take it up out of its order, 
which was granted, and the resolution was then read 
three times, and passed unanimously. It is as follows : 

"Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, 
That the thanks of Congress be, and they hereby are, pre- 
sented to Cyrus W. Field of New York, for his foresight, 
courage, and determination in establishing telegraphic com- 
munication by means of the Atlantic cable, traversing mid- 
ocean and connecting the Old World with the New ; and 
that the President of the United States be requested to cause 
a gold medal to be struck, with suitable emblems, devices, 
and inscriptions, to be presented to Mr. Field. 

' ' And be it further resolved, That when the medal shall 
have been struck, the President shall cause a copy of this 
joint resolution to be engrossed on parchment, and shall 
transmit the same, together with the medal, to Mr. Field, to 
be presented to him in the name of the people of the United 
States of America. 

" Approved March 2, 1867. 

" Andrew Johnson. " 



THE AFTERGLOW. 389 

This action of Congress reached Mr. Field in Eng; 
land. As he was about returning to America, Lord 
Derby, still at the head of the government, addressed 
to him a letter in which he repeated what he had said 
before "in the Queen's name," "how much of the suc- 
cess of the great undertaking of laying the Atlantic 
Cable was due to the energy and perseverance with 
which, from the very first, in spite of all discourage- 
ments, you adhered to and supported the project;" 
and adding, " Your signal services in carrying out 
this great undertaking have been already fully recog- 
nized by Congress ; and it would have been very satis- 
factory to the Queen to have included your name 
among those on whom, in commemoration of this great 
event, her Majesty was pleased to bestow British 
honors, if it had not been felt that, as a citizen of the 
United States, it would hardly have been competent 
to you to accept them. As long, however, as the tele- 
graphic communication between the two Continents 
lasts, your name cannot fail to be honorably associated 
with it." 

This surely was all that could be expected from 
the government, but some there were in England who 
felt that there was still a debt of honor to be paid, 
which required some public testimonial. Accordingly, 
on Mr. Field's return to London, in 1868, they pre- 
pared for him an imposing demonstration in the form 
of a banquet, given at Willis's Rooms, on the first of 



390 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

July, at which was assembled one of the most distin- 
guished companies that ever met to do honor to a 
private citizen of any country. It embraced over four 
hundred gentlemen of all ranks: ministers of state, 
members of parliament, both Lords and Commons ; 
officers of the army and navy ; great capitalists — mer- 
chants and bankers ; men of science and of letters ; 
inventors, electricians, and engineers — men eminent in 
every walk of life. The Duke of Argyll presided, and 
speeches were made by three members of the govern- 
ment — Sir John Pakington, Secretary of State for 
War ; Sir Stafford Northcote, Secretary of State for 
India ; and Sir Alexander Milne, First Sea Lord of the 
Admiralty ; by John Bright ; by the venerable Lord 
Stratford de Redcliffe, so long the British Minister at 
Constantinople ; and by M. de Lesseps, the projector of 
the Suez Canal, who had come from Egypt expressly 
to be present. It was a tribute such as is rarely paid 
to any man while living — such tributes being reserved 
for the dead — and is still more honorable in this 
case, alike to the givers and the receiver, in that it 
was paid by the people of one country to a citizen of 
another, who was regarded in both as their common 
benefactor. 

But enough of praise that can fall only on the dull, 
cold ear of death. A few words on the after years of 
this busy life, and I have done. These years brought 
a rich reward for all the sacrifices of the past. The 



THE AFTERGLOW. 391 

first feeling was one of infinite relief that at last the 
victory was won. The terrible strain was taken off, 
and to him who had borne it so long, the change to the 
quiet of his own happy home was inexpressibly grate- 
ful after his many and long separations. He was now 
in his own country and under his own roof, but with a 
name that was known on both sides of the sea. The 
complete success of the Atlantic Telegraph had given 
him an immense reputation at home and abroad. It 
seemed as if the struggles of life were all over, leaving 
only its honors to be enjoyed. "What more could he 
ask to make life worth living than the respect of his 
countrymen for his courage, energy and perseverance, 
and a name honored all over the civilized world as one 
of the world's benefactors ? 

The practical results of the cable were even greater 
than he had dared to anticipate. In the space of a few 
months it wrought a commercial revolution in Amer- 
ica. It was a new sensation to have the Old World 
brought so near, that it entered into one's dailv life. 
Every morning, as Mr. Field went to his office, he 
found laid on his desk at nine o'clock the quotations on 
the Eoyal Exchange at twelve ! Lombard Street and 
Wall Street talked with each other as two neighbors 
across the waj r . This soon made an end of the tribe 
of speculators who calculated on the fact that nobody 
knew at a particular moment the state of the market 
on the other side of the sea, an universal ignorance by 



392 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

which they profited by getting the earliest advices. But 
now everybody got them as soon as they, for the news 
came with the rising of each day's sun, and the occupa- 
tion of a class that did much to demoralize trade on 
both sides of the ocean was gone. 

The same restoration of order was seen in the business 
of importations, which had been hitherto almost a mat- 
ter of guess-work. A merchant who wished to buy 
silks in Lyons, sent out his orders months in advance, 
and of course somewhat at random, not knowing 
how the market might turn, so that when the costly 
fabrics arrived, he might find that he had ordered 
too many or too few. A China merchant sent his ship 
round the world for a cargo of tea, which returned 
after a year's absence, bringing not enough to supply 
the public demand, leaving him in vexation at the 
thought of what he might have made, "if he had 
known," or, what was still worse, bringing twice too 
much, in which case the unsold half remained on his 
hands.. This was a risk against which he had to be in- 
sured, as much as against fire or shipwreck. And the 
only insurance he could have was to take reprisals by 
an increased charge on his unfortunate customers. 

This double risk was now greatly reduced, if not en- 
tirely removed. The merchant need no longer send 
out orders a year beforehand, nor order a whole ship- 
load of tea when he needed only a hundred chests, since 
he could telegraph to his agent for what he wanted 



THE AFTERGLOW. 393 

and no more. With this opportunity for getting the 
latest intelligence, the element of uncertainty was 
eliminated, and the importer no longer did business at 
a venture. Buying from time to time, so as to take 
advantage of low markets, he was able to buy cheaper, 
and of course to sell cheaper. It would be a curious 
study to trace the effect of the cable upon the prices of all 
foreign goods. A New York merchant, who has been 
himself an importer for forty years, tells me that the 
saving to the American people cannot be less than 
raan} r millions every year. 

But the slender cord beneath the sea had finer uses 
than to be a reporter of markets, giving quotations of 
prices to counting rooms and banking houses ; it was a 
link between hearts and homes on opposite sides of the 
ocean, bearing messages of life and death, of joy and 
sorrow, of hopes and fears. One of its happiest uses 
was the relief of anxiety. A ship sailed for England 
with hundreds of passengers, but did not arrive at her 
destination on the appointed day. Instantly a thousand 
hearts were tortured with fear, lest their loved ones had 
gone to the bottom of the sea, when the cable reported 
that the delay was due simply to an accident to her 
machinery, that would keep her back for a day or two, 
but that the good ship was safe with all on board. What 
arithmetic can compute the value of a single message 
that relieves so much anguish ? Thus the submarine 
telegraph stretched out its long arms under the sea, 



394 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

to lay a friendly hand on two peoples, and give assur- 
ance to both. 

Such a triumph of commercial enterprise was enough 
to satisfy the pride and ambition of any man ; but it 
was not in Mr. Field's nature to rest content with any 
success, however great, and he was always reaching 
out for some new undertaking to give scope to his rest- 
less activity. Such an opportunity he found in giving 
rapid transit to New York, a city which, though it has 
one of the finest harbors in the world, with approaches 
from the sea that afford every possible advantage for 
commerce, is not so favorably situated landward, as it 
is built on a long and narrow island, between two broad 
rivers, w r hich confine it on either side, so that it is 
stretched out to such distances that it is no easy mat- 
ter to pass from one end to the other. From the Bat- 
tery to the Harlem river is ten miles, so that w r orking 
men, who lived so far away, were an hour or more in 
getting from their homes to their place of work, and 
as long in getting back again, a large inroad upon their 
hours of rest or domestic comfort. The only means of 
transportation was by street cars, which moved slowly, 
and in winter, whenever the streets were blocked with 
snow, were crowded to suffocation, and dragged at a 
snail's pace to the upper end of the island. 

This was the great barrier to the city's growth, and 
must be removed if it was not to be stunted and 
dwarfed by these limitations. To furnish some relief. 



THE AFTERGLOW. 395 

an elevated railroad, built on stilts, had been attempted 
on a small scale, but soon broke down, when Mr. Field 
bought the control of the whole concern, and took it in 
his own strong arms. It was no easy matter to gal- 
vanize it into life, for though it had a charter, it was 
still obstructed in the legislature, and in the courts, so 
that it was a long time before he could get full posses- 
sion. But once master of the situation, he undertook 
the work on a grand scale, and pushed it with such 
vigor that in less than two years the road was in 
operation. It has since been extended with the public 
demand, until now (in 1892) there are thirty-six miles 
of road, over which the trains sweep incessantly from 
the bay to the river, and from the river to the bay. 

The structures are not indeed the most graceful in 
the world, as they bestride the long avenues of the 
city. But these tall iron pillars, that line our streets 
for miles, are the long legs of civilization, and have a 
somewhat imposing effect as they stretch away into the 
distance, with the fire-drawn cars flying swiftly over 
them. Dean Stanley glorified them by a historical 
parallel which could occur only to one full of the won- 
ders of ancient times, that started into life under the 
touch of his imagination. Going with him one day on 
an excursion, he stepped briskly (for his frame was so 
light as to offer little impediment to motion), and as 
he mounted the long stairway, and stood on the plat- 
form above the crowded street below, he exclaimed, 



396 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

" This is Babylonian ! Four chariots driving abreast 
on the walls of the city ! " 

But Babylonian or American, the success was enor- 
mous. As soon as the public became familiar with 
these elevated roads, and felt that they were safe as 
well as swift, the people swarmed upon them, in num- 
bers constantly increasing, till now the} 7 carry over 
seven hundred thousand passengers a day ! On the 
day of the Columbus celebration (October 12th) it was 
a million and seventy-five thousand ! Indeed, if we 
are not staggered by numbers, we may sum up the 
whole in the amazing statement demonstrated by 
figures, that since these roads were opened, they have 
carried over eighteen hundred millions of passengers, 
more than the whole population of the globe ! 

Nor should it be forgotten that, not only is the facil- 
ity they afford the greatest, but the fares the lowest, 
for, thanks to Mr. Field, they were reduced years ago 
to five cents at all hours and for the longest distance, 
the ten miles from the Battery to the Harlem river. 

The effect was immediate in the appreciation of 
real estate in the city, the assessed value of which has 
already advanced b\ T the sum of five hundred millions 
of dollars ! The increased taxation is enough to pay 
for all the cost, while as a relief to the congested parts 
of the city, and as furnishing a means for that easy cir- 
culation, which is as necessary to a great city as a free 
circulation of the blood is to the human body, it is not 



THE AFTERGLOW. 397 

too much to say that the construction of the elevated 
railroads is the greatest material benefit that has ever 
been conferred on the city of New York. 

Bub busy as Mr. Field was through all these years, 
much of his life was spent abroad. He had interests 
on both sides of the Atlantic, but stronger than his 
interests were his friendships to attract him across the 
sea. He had come to feel as much at home in Eng- 
land as in his own country : and his visits were so fre- 
quent that his sudden appearances and disappearances 
were a subject of amused comment to his English 
friends. When Dean Stanley was in America, a recep- 
tion was given to him at the Century Club, where in a 
very happy address, he referred to the ties between the 
two countries, among which was " the wonderful cable, 
on which it is popularly believed in England, that my 
friend and host, Mr. Cyrus Field, passes his mysteri- 
ous existence, appearing and reappearing at one and 
the same moment in London and in New York ! " 

As Mr. Field was thus brought near to his English 
friends, they in turn were brought near to him, for as 
no man in America was better known abroad, no house 
received more foreign guests, many of whom he had 
not met before, but who brought letters to him, and 
there was no end to his hospitality. John Bright he 
could not persuade to cross the sea ; but he had the 
pleasure to welcome his co-laborer in the repeal of the 
Corn-laws, Kichard Cobden. The house in Gramercy 



398 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

Park became famous for its receptions. Many will 
recall that given to the Marquis of Eipon and the 
other High Commissioners, who came a year or two 
after the war, as representatives of the British govern- 
ment, and negotiated at Washington the treaty which 
settled the Alabama claims ; and those to Dean Stan- 
ley and Archdeacon Farrar ; and to many others. If 
the strangers happened to arrive in the summer time, 
they were entertained at his beautiful country seat on 
the Hudson, to which he had given the name of 
" Ardsley," from the seat of John Field the astron- 
omer, who lived in the West Riding of Yorkshire more 
than three centuries ago, and introduced the Coperni- 
can astronomy into England, and from whom the 
family are descended. 

In some cases when he went abroad, England was 
but the starting point for excursions on the Continent, 
in which he visited almost every European country. 
In 1874, in company with two well-known Americans, 
Bayard Taylor and Murat Halstead, he made a voy- 
age to Iceland, as ten years before he had been to 
Egypt, as a delegate from the New York Chamber of 
Commerce, to witness the opening of the Suez Canal. 

In 1880-81 he took a still longer flight around the 
world. Waiting till after the Presidential election, 
that he might cast his vote for his friend General 
Garfield, the very next day he left with his wife in a 
special car for San Francisco, where after a few da} 7 s, 



THE AFTERGLOW. 399 

they took ship for Japan, from which they passed 
through the Inland Sea to Shanghai, and from China 
to Singapore, and up the Bay of Bengal to Calcutta, 
where he found the same English nobleman whom he 
had entertained in New York, the Marquis of Ripon, 
Governor-General of India. Going up the country, the 
travellers visited Agra and Delhi, where the wonders 
of architecture showed the magnificence of the old 
Mogul Empire. The whole journey was one of infi- 
nite pleasure and instruction, and they were never 
weary of talking of the strange manners and customs 
of the people of Asia. 

When they returned to America, General Garfield 
was President of the United States, who, though a 
"Western man by birth, had been educated in New 
England, at Williams College in Massachusetts, where 
he had been graduated twenty-five years before, and 
which he had a desire to revisit ; and it was arranged 
that he should leave Washington in the morning of 
July 2d, with as many of his cabinet as could be 
spared from the seat of government, and come on to 
New York and all be entertained at "Ardsley," and 
the next day proceed up the Hudson and across the 
country to Williamstown ; a programme which was 
interrupted by the terrible news that on arriving at 
the station in Washington he had been shot, an event 
that instantly recalled the assassination of Lincoln. 
At once there rose a cry of horror from one end of the 



400 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

land to the other, and for weeks the whole country was 
watching by the bedside of the illustrious sufferer. 

Of course, the sympathy for the wife and children 
was universal, but Mr. Field was the first to give this 
sympathy a practical direction. With his quick eye he 
saw the condition in which they would be left by the 
death of the President, as for them the law makes no 
provision. His salary stops at the very day and hour 
that he ceases to live, nor is there a pension settled 
upon his family, nor can anything be paid from the 
national treasury except by special act of Congress. 
In this extremity it occurred to Mr. Field that what 
the Government failed to do should be made up by 
private generosity ; and even before General Garfield's 
death he started a subscription, heading it with five 
thousand dollars, and taking it in person to his rich 
friends. The self-imposed task occupied him several 
months, in which he raised a fund of over three hun- 
dred and sixty thousand dollars, which was put into 
United States four per cent, bonds, yielding an inter- 
est of over twelve thousand dollars a year, to be paid 
quarterly during the life of Mrs. Garfield, and then 
to go to her children. It was a great satisfaction to 

O CD 

have thus provided for those who bore the name of 
a President of the United States, so that they should 
be able to live in the comfort and dignity that befitted 
the family of one who had occupied the most exalted 
station in the government. 



THE AFTERGLOW. 401 

Not content with this, Mr. Field went to Washing- 
ton, and urged upon his friends in Congress, and finally 
succeeded in getting passed, a bill giving to the widows 
of all Presidents a pension of $5,000, which, it added 
to his gratification to know, would apply to the vener- 
able Mrs. Polk : and that still goes, and will go during 
her lifetime, to the wife of General Grant, as the 
slight expression of a nation's gratitude. 

Next to the interest he felt in his own country, his 
heart was in England. While he was an intense 
American, and perhaps, for that very reason, because 
he was an American, he claimed kindred with the 
people from whom we are not only descended, but 
have received such an inheritance of glorv. In his 
own words : " America, with all her greatness, has come 
out of the loins of England." When he was in India 
he was proud of the mighty English race that from its 
little island governed an empire of two hundred and 
fifty millions on the other side of the globe. Some 
might have said that he inherited no small portion of 
its unconquerable spirit. 

And not only did he admire Old England, but he 
loved Englishmen. He knew all that was said of 
English reserve and English pride, but long familiarity 
had taught him that underneath this cold exterior 
were many of the noblest qualities — courage, heroism 
and fidelity — so that it had become a part of his 
creed that an Englishman, when once you have won 
26 



402 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

his confidence, will go farther and fight harder for a 
friend or for a cause than any other man on the face 
of the earth. Among such a people Mr. Field was 
proud to number many of his dearest friends. 

A touching proof of their regard for him was given 
but a few months before his death. On the 2d of De- 
cember, 1890, he and his wife celebrated their golden 
wedding. For fifty years they had travelled on the 
course of life together. Children and grandchildren 
had been born to them, so that at the close of half a 
century a large and happy family was gathered round 
those to whom they looked up with the tenderest 
affection. 

Among the congratulations of that day was a large 
scroll, signed by Mr. Gladstone, the Duke of Argyll, 
Lord Monck, and some eighty others whose names are 
widely known. It was a graceful tribute from Eng- 
land to a son of America, who had done perhaps 
more than any other living man to bring the two 
countries and the two peoples together. 

That golden wedding was the fit coronation of a life 
of wonderful activity, and all the kindred who met 
under that roof were grateful for the past, and full of 
hopes for the future. 

But God's ways are not as our ways. Before many 
months the clouds began to gather. The next summer, 
when the family were all at their country home, sick- 
ness cast its shadow over their dwelling, which grew 



THE AFTERGLOW. 403 

more grave till November 23d, when the leaves were 
falling from the trees before their door, the mother of 
this large household breathed her last. Two months 
later the eldest daughter, who was also the eldest child 
of the family, followed. These repeated blows fell 
heavy on the affectionate heart of the bereaved hus- 
band and father, and when to these were added other 
sorrows still, it seemed as if the clouds were piled one 
upon another till they darkened all the horizon. The 
winter was a gloomy one, from its loneliness and its 
many causes of sadness. But with the returning spring 
the grass grew green again, and the trees put forth 
their leaves, and it seemed as if the new life of nature 
must put life into the heart of man : and when he re- 
moved to the country, and began to drive about as of 
old among the familiar haunts, the beautiful scenery 
for a time delighted his eye, and the change of air 
brought a touch of the old spirit, as if perchance his 
strength were about to return. But it was only a 
momentary flush, and he soon took to his room, where, 
as he looked from his windows, and saw the sun 
going down over the hills beyond the Hudson, it could 
only remind him that for him the sun of life was about 
to set forever. Fair was the world without but deso- 
late was the home within, since she who had made its 
brightness was gone; and here on the 12th of July 
1892, the end came. 

It was a beautiful morning, and the windows were 



404 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

open, through which the soft summer air floated into 
the chamber of death, where his three brothers, all 
that were left of his father's family, with those of his 
own household, were round his bed, watching the dear 
pale face. Thus surrounded and beloved to the last, 
he ceased to breathe. 

Two days later a large company from the country 
round and from the city gathered at Ardsley, and 
stood on the lawn and the slopes that lead up to the 
noble trees that shade the dwelling, as Bishop Potter 
read the blessed words, " I am the Resurrection and 
the Life, saith the Lord : he that believeth in Me, 
though he were dead, yet shall he live." 

The next day we bore him away from his home, and 
from the great city where he had passed his busy life, 
back to the quiet valley where he was born, and laid 
him down in the shadow of the encircling hills.* 
" Bury me there," he had said, " by the side of my be- 
loved wife and by my father and mother." The earth 
closed over him, and all his struggles and his sorrows 
were buried in the grave. 

The man is gone, but the work remains, a work that 
multiplies itself, for when once a leader and explorer 
had opened the way, others were swift to follow, so 
that now there are no less than ten cables stretched 
across the Atlantic, and every hour of day or night, 
"when men wake and when they sleep" (for even in 

* The Berkshire Hills, Stoekbridge, Massachusetts. 



THE AFTERGLOW. 405 

the hours of silence the heart is still beating, only 
a little more slowly), the pulse of life is kept moving 
to and fro. The morning news comes after a night's 
repose, and we are wakened gently to the new day 
that has dawned upon the world. That which serves 
to such an end ; which is a connecting link between 
countries and races of men ; is not a mere material 
thing, an iron chain, lying cold and dead in the icy 
depths of the Atlantic. It is a living, fleshly bond 
between severed portions of the human family, thrill- 
ing with life, along which every human impulse runs 
swift as the current in human veins, and will run for 
ever. Free intercourse between nations, as between 
individuals, leads to mutual kindly offices, that make 
those who at once give and receive, feel that they are 
not only neighbors but friends. Hence the " mission " 
of submarine telegraphy is to be the minister of peace. 
The first message across the deep was " Glory to God 
in the highest ; peace on earth, good will to men," and 
the first news it brought was that of peace in China. 
And when again the sea had found a tongue, its 
first glad intelligence was that the great war between 
Austria and Prussia was ended. Thus at its very birth 
was this new messenger baptized in the name of Peace, 
and consecrated to a service worthy of its name, 

" Man marks the earth with ruin: his control 
Stops with the shore : upon the watery plain 
The wrecks are all thy deed." 



406 STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

Not all ! The wrath of man adds to the fury of the 
elements. To strew the sea with wrecks is the work 
of lightning and tempest : man's nobler office is to 
restore what nature may destroy. 

It was the chief desire of him who has gone to the 
grave, that the link which unites England and America 
might bind the countries that he loved the most in 
indissoluble union. Though the two nations dwell 
apart, on opposite shores of the same great and wide 
sea, they are now brought almost within the sound of 
each other's voice and the touch of each other's hand : 
they can look into each other's eyes, and exchange 
their morning and evening congratulations with the 
rising and setting of each day's sun. May the instru- 
ment through which they look and speak never startle 
them with rude alarms, but continue to whisper peace 
in tones as gentle as the murmur of the sea, as long 
as the winds blow and the waters roll. 



APPENDIX. 

INSTRUMENTS FOR SIGNALLING ACROSS THE ATLANTIC 
OCEAN. 

If the project of an Atlantic Telegraph be justly ascribed 
to the daring of an American, and its success to his courage 
and perseverance through years of struggle and disappoint- 
ment ; the solution of the scientific problem involved in it, is 
due to the genius of a Scotchman, whom the writer of this 
volume first knew (and it is a pleasant memory to have 
known such a man in the beginning of his splendid career) 
as Professor Thomson of the University of Glasgow, where 
his father had been professor before him, whom the son suc- 
ceeded in the Department of Physics, which included the 
then little known science of Electricity, to which the young 
professor devoted himself with all the eagerness of scientific 
genius. The project of a telegraph across the ocean sug- 
gested new problems and new difficulties, to which he ap- 
plied himself with characteristic ardor, the result of which 
is here given. When the second expedition of the Great 
Eastern (in 1866) was successful, the British Government at 
once recognized his eminent services ; and the name of Sir 
William Thomson has since been recognized, among the 
leaders in scientific discovery, not only in England but all 
over the scientific world. The government has recently 
added a further dignity in making him a peer of the realm, 
an honor hitherto reserved generally for the leaders of 



408 SIGNALLING UNDER THE SEA. 

armies, like Wellington. To confer it on a simple professor 
shows an advance of civilization in the respect paid to intel- 
lectual greatness. In conferring such a title, the govern- 
ment does not honor the man more than it honors itself. It 
is to the glory of England that such an honor should be paid 
to science in the person of Lord Kelvin, as was paid to litera- 
ture in the person of Lord Tennyson. 

The following, taken in substance from an English scien- 
tific review, will indicate briefly, but with sufficient clear- 
ness, the problem to be solved in signalling to great dis- 
tances under the sea, and the instruments by which this is 
accomplished : — 

The speed of signalling through a submarine cable de- 
pends upon its electrostatic capacity, which, unless it be 
very small, gives rise to " retardation." 

In the Proceedings of the Royal Society for 1855, Sir 
William Thomson showed how the effect at the distant end 
of a cable, caused by the application of a battery at one end, 
could be calculated and represented graphically in what is 
called the "curve of arrival." After contact is first made at 
the sending end between the cable and one pole of the bat- 
tery (the other pole being to earth), a certain interval of 
time elapses before any effect is felt at the distant end, This 
interval of time is denoted by the letter a. After the inter- 
val of time a has passed, a current begins to issue from the 
cable at the receiving end, and increases in strength very 
rapidly. After a further interval of 4a or after a period of 
5a from the first application of the battery, it attains about 
half its maximum strength, and there is very little sensible 
increase in strength after a time equal to 10a has elapsed. 
The curve of arrival is drawn by taking distances along o x to 
represent intervals of time, and distances along o Y to rep- 



SIGNALLING UNDER THE SEA. 



409 



resent strengths of current. Curve No. I. shows the grad- 
ual increase in strength of the received current at one end 
of a cable when the battery is applied to and kept in con- 
tact with the other end. For a distance corresponding to the 
interval of time a, the curve does not sensibly deviate from 



























T 
































































































































k 
































































































































































Jtf 
















































'a' 





















































































































































































the straight line o x ; in other words, no effect is observ- 
able at the receiving end during this time. 

If now, instead of being continuously applied to the bat- 
tery at the sending end, the cable had been applied to it dur- 
ing a short interval of time, and then disconnected from the 
battery and connected to earth, the curve of arrival would 
be of the form shown by curve No. II. Curve No. II. shows 



410 SIGNALLING UNDER THE SEA. 

the effect of applying the battery during a length of time 
equal to la, and then putting the cable to earth. It will be 
seen that a current gradually diminishing in strength con- 
tinues to now out of the cable at the distant end for a con- 
siderable time after the battery has been disconnected. This 
continued discharge is what gives rise to the difficulty ex- 
perienced in reading the signals sent through long cables. 

The instrument first used for receiving signals through 
a long submarine cable (the short-lived 1858 Atlantic cable) 
was the Mirror Galvanometer, which consisted of a small 
mirror with four light magnets attached to its back (weigh- 
ing, in all, less than half-a-grain), suspended by means of a 
single silk fibre, in a proper position within the hollow of 
a bobbin of fine wire: a suitable controlling magnet being 
placed adjacent to the apparatus. The action of this instru- 
ment is as follows. On the passage of a current of electricity 
through the fine wire coil, the suspended magnets with the 
mitror attached, tend to take up a position at right angles 
to the plane of the coil, and are deflected to one side or the 
other according as the current is in one direction or the 
other. 

Of various other forms of receiving instruments devised 
by Sir William Thomson, the next to be noticed is the Spark 
Recorder, both on account of the principles involved in its 
construction, and because it in some respects foreshadowed 
the more perfect instrument, the Siphon Eec order, which 
he introduced some years later. The action of the Spark 
Recorder was as follows. An indicator, suitably supported, 
was caused to take a to-and-fro motion, by means of the 
electro-magnetic action due to the electric currents consti- 
tuting the signals. This indicator was connected to a Ruhm- 
korff coil or other equivalent apparatus, designed to cause a 



SIGNALLING UNDER THE SEA. 



411 



continual succession of sparks to pass between the indicator, 
and a metal plate situated beneath it and having a plane sur- 
face parallel to its line of motion. Over the surface of this 




FIG. 1. 



plate and between it and the indicator, there was passed, at 
a regularly uniform speed in a direction perpendicular to the 
line of motion of the indicator, a material capable of being* 



412 SIGNALLING UNDER THE SEA. 

acted on physically by the sparks, either through their 
chemical action, their heat, or their perforating force. The 
record of the signals given by this instrument was an un- 
dulating line of fine perforations or spots, and the character 
and succession of the undulations were used to interpret the 
signals desired to be sent. 

The latest form of receiving instrument for long submarine 
cables, is that of the Siphon Recorder, for which Sir William 
Thomson obtained his first patent in 1867. Within the three 
succeeding years he effected great improvements on it, and 
the instrument has, since that date, been exclusively 
employed in working most of the more important subma- 
rine cables of the world — indeed all except those on which 
the Mirror-Galvanometer method is still in use. 

In the Siphon Recorder (a view of which is shown in 
Fig. 1), the indicator consists of a light rectangular signal- 
coil of fine wire, suspended between the poles of a powerful 
electro-magnet, so as to be free to move about its longer axis 
which is vertical, and so joined up that the electric currents 
constituting the signals through the cable, pass through it. 
A fine glass siphon-tube is suitably suspended, so as to have 
only one degree of freedom to move, and is connected to the 
signal-coil so as to move with it. The short leg of the 
siphon-tube dips into an insulated ink-bottle, which permits 
of the ink contained by it being electrified, while the long 
leg is situated so that its open end is at a very small distance 
from a brass table, placed with its surface parallel to the 
plane in which the mouth of this leg moves, and over which 
a slip of paper may be passed at a uniform rate as in the 
Spark Recorder. The effect of electrifying the ink is to 
cause it to be projected in very minute drops from the open 
end of the siphon -tube, towards the brass table or on the 



SIGNALLING UNDER THE SEA. 



413 



paper-slip passing* over it. Thus when the signal-coil moves 
in obedience to the electric signal currents passed through it, 
the motion then communicated to the siphon, is recorded on 
the moving slip of paper by a wavy line of ink marks very 




FIG. 2. 



close together. The interpretation of the signals is accord- 
ing* to the Morse code ; the dot and dash being represented 
by deflections of the line to one side or the other of the cen- 
tre line of the paper. 



414 



SIGNALLING UNDER THE SEA. 



Perfect as this instrument seemed, yet after further years 
of study and experiment, Sir William Thomson was able, at 
the close of 1883, to present to the world the Siphon Recorder, „ 
greatly improved, because in a very much simpler form. In 
this form of the instrument, instead of the electro-magnets, 




fig. 3. 



he used two bundles of long bar-magnets of square section 
and made up of square bars of glass-hard steel. The two 
bundles are supported vertically on a cast-iron socket, and 
on the upper end of each is fitted a soft iron shoe, so shaped 
as to concentrate the lines of force and thus produce a strong 



SIGNALLING UNDER THE SEA. 



415 



magnetic field in the space within which the signal-coil is 
suspended. He made instruments of this kind to work both 
with and without electrification of the ink. Without elec- 
trification the instrument, as shown in Fig. 2, is exceedingly 
simple and compact, and in this form is capable of doing good 
work on cables of lengths up to 500 or 600 miles. When 
constructed for electrification of the ink, as shown in Fig. 3, 
it is of course available for much longer lengths of cable, 
but for cables such as the Atlantic cables, the original form 






of the Siphon Recorder is that still chiefly used. The strong- 
est magnetic field hitherto obtained by permanent magnets 
(of glass-hard steel) is about 3000 c. G. s. With the electro- 
magnets of the original form of Siphon Recorder as in ordi- 
nary use a magnetic field of about or over 5000 c. G. s. is 
easily attained. In Fig. 4 is shown a fac simile of part of 
a message received and recorded by a Siphon Recorder, such 
as is shown in Fig. 1, from one of the Eastern Telegraph 
Co.'s Cables of about 830 miles length. 



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